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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: cold · charge · ground · temple · wind · stock · shower · lean

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. ground — a position
  7. lean — thin
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. charge — a price
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. charge — in control
  16. stock — shares
  17. lean — to bend
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. charge — electricity
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — a soup base

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