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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: temple · shower · spell · mate · cue · wind · stock · pitcher

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. cue — a hint
  3. mate — a partner
  4. mate — to breed
  5. stock — goods
  6. wind — moving air
  7. cue — for pool
  8. spell — letters
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. mate — a friend
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. spell — a short time
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. shower — to wash
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. spell — magic
  22. stock — shares
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cue — a signal

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