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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 120 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
468
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: pitcher · tube · bulb · cold · wind · last · pound · stock

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — not warm
  6. last — to go on
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stock — goods
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. last — finally
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bulb — for light
  15. last — final
  16. stock — shares
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wind — moving air
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. tube — the underground
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. tube — a container

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