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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: rule · stem · shower · scale · wind · mark · hand · stock

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. mark — a grade
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stock — goods
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rule — government
  9. stem — of a plant
  10. rule — a law
  11. scale — size or range
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. mark — a trace
  14. stock — shares
  15. scale — in music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. stem — to come from
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. shower — rain
  22. shower — to wash
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. wind — moving air

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