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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 124 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: patient · jam · shower · stock · content · degree · deal · pitcher

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. stock — goods
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. stock — shares
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. content — happy
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. content — the amount
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. deal — to handle
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. degree — temperature
  18. degree — an amount
  19. shower — to wash
  20. jam — to spread on bread
  21. degree — from a university
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. shower — rain

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