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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 · hand · track · wave · spell · wind · bulb

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. hand — in cards
  3. wind — moving air
  4. spell — a short time
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. wind — moving air
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. wave — a sudden rise
  10. stock — shares
  11. track — a song
  12. track — a path
  13. bulb — for light
  14. stock — goods
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. shower — rain
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. spell — magic
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. track — to keep track
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. hand — help
  23. spell — letters
  24. stock — a soup base

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