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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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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: snap · content · cold · shower · toast · stock · race · season

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. stock — goods
  4. season — in sport
  5. race — a contest
  6. stock — shares
  7. content — the amount
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. toast — bread
  10. race — humankind
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cold — not warm
  13. shower — rain
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. race — the arms race
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. shower — to wash
  19. cold — an illness
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. content — happy
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. snap — to click
  24. season — of the year

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