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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 120 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: prune · cold · nail · wind · stock · content · ball · rock

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. ball — a great time
  3. stock — goods
  4. rock — a stone
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rock — music
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. wind — moving air
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. prune — to trim
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. cold — an illness
  14. content — the amount
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. stock — shares
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. content — happy
  21. wind — moving air
  22. ball — a dance
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. prune — to trim

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