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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: wake · spring · cold · rush · content · fine · saw · stock

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. That must've been a ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. fine — all right
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. saw — past of 'see'
  8. cold — an illness
  9. stock — shares
  10. wake — a trail
  11. rush — a thrill
  12. content — the amount
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. content — happy
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. spring — a coil
  19. saw — the tool
  20. stock — goods
  21. rush — hurry
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. cold — not warm
  24. saw — the tool

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