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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bank · hand · cold · content · fan · net · stock · shower

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bank — of a river
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. bank — for money
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. shower — to wash
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. net — for catching
  12. net — in sport
  13. shower — rain
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stock — goods
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. net — after costs
  20. stock — shares
  21. content — happy
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. bank — for money
  24. fan — a supporter

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com