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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: shower · cold · kick · face · stock · pit · file · object

  1. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. file — a line of people
  3. pit — in a race
  4. stock — shares
  5. face — to confront
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. object — to protest
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. shower — rain
  11. object — an aim
  12. file — a tool
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cold — an illness
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. cold — not warm
  18. pit — a hole
  19. stock — goods
  20. face — to point toward
  21. face — part of the head
  22. kick — in football
  23. file — a document
  24. shower — to wash

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