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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.

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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: rest · net · rush · wake · bulb · stock · rash · cold

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. bulb — for light
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cold — an illness
  5. stock — shares
  6. net — after costs
  7. rush — hurry
  8. bulb — for light
  9. cold — not warm
  10. rest — a break
  11. rest — what's left
  12. rash — a series
  13. net — for catching
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. stock — goods
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. net — in sport
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. wake — a trail
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — hasty

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