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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: land · shower · stock · vault · straw · bass · cold · mine

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bass — the fish
  4. shower — rain
  5. vault — in gymnastics
  6. cold — an illness
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. land — ground
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. land — a country
  11. land — to come down
  12. stock — shares
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. stock — goods
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. shower — to wash
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mine — for digging
  21. bass — low music
  22. vault — a safe
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mine — belonging to me

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