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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 116 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 · staff · field · trunk · stand · perch · cold · stock

  1. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. trunk — of a tree
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. staff — employees
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — goods
  10. field — a subject
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. shower — to wash
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stock — shares
  15. field — farmland
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. staff — employees
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. cold — not warm
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. staff — a stick
  22. field — for sport
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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