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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: shower · fall · rash · bass · stock · cue · cap · content

  1. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. rash — a series
  3. content — the amount
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cue — for pool
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. content — happy
  9. shower — rain
  10. cap — a hat
  11. cue — a signal
  12. fall — to drop
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. cue — a hint
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. stock — goods
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. cap — of ice
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. shower — to wash
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. cap — a lid
  23. stock — shares
  24. bass — low music

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