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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: cold · stock · capital · game · ruler · mug · leaves · shower

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. cold — an illness
  5. shower — rain
  6. game — a match
  7. capital — money
  8. mug — a cup
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. stock — shares
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. game — wild animals
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. shower — to wash
  18. mug — to rob
  19. mug — a face
  20. capital — a city
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. game — a kind of play
  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