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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 · chest · rash · pound · stock · cabinet · cell · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. cell — in biology
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. stock — shares
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. chest — of your body
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. pound — a weight
  14. rash — a series
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. chest — of your body
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. chest — a box
  20. rash — hasty
  21. shower — rain
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. cell — a phone
  24. stock — goods

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