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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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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: charge · stock · wind · cold · mark · cell · shower · branch

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mark — a trace
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. wind — moving air
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cell — a phone
  16. charge — electricity
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. cell — in biology
  20. charge — in control
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. mark — a grade
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. charge — a price

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