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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: shower · ground · last · saw · wind · pop · press · stock

  1. You don't need to ________________ round.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — to visit
  2. last — to go on
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. last — finally
  5. press — to push
  6. ground — the earth
  7. press — a publisher
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. press — newspapers
  10. stock — goods
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. shower — rain
  13. ground — crushed
  14. saw — the tool
  15. pop — soda
  16. last — final
  17. stock — shares
  18. pop — music
  19. saw — the tool
  20. shower — to wash
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. ground — a position
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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