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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: stock · kick · shower · rush · pitch · file · date · cue

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. file — a tool
  3. file — a document
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. stock — shares
  7. cue — a hint
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. pitch — completely
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. date — the fruit
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cue — a signal
  16. file — a line of people
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. stock — goods
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. cue — for pool
  23. shower — rain
  24. pitch — a sports field

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