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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 · wake · bore · pop · stock · ball · cold · key

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. key — the most important part
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stock — shares
  6. bore — to drill
  7. wake — a trail
  8. shower — to wash
  9. key — in music
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. pop — music
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. pop — to visit
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. key — for a lock
  16. bore — to tire
  17. stock — goods
  18. shower — rain
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. ball — a dance
  21. ball — a great time
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. pop — soda

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