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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: stock · shower · bass · season · cold · drill · rock · land

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. shower — rain
  3. land — a country
  4. stock — shares
  5. cold — not warm
  6. drill — army training
  7. stock — goods
  8. bass — low music
  9. bass — the instrument
  10. season — of the year
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. season — in sport
  13. rock — to move gently
  14. rock — music
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. shower — to wash
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — an illness
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. land — ground
  23. rock — a stone
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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