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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.

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: shower · bass · face · fork · wake · cold · prune · stock

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. shower — to wash
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. shower — rain
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. stock — goods
  8. face — to point toward
  9. wake — a trail
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bass — low music
  12. fork — in a road
  13. face — part of the head
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. cold — not warm
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stock — shares
  21. face — to confront
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. bass — the fish

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