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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 · bulb · face · fork · bore · wind · cold · ball

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cold — an illness
  4. ball — a dance
  5. wind — moving air
  6. stock — shares
  7. bulb — for light
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. cold — not warm
  10. fork — in a road
  11. bulb — for light
  12. face — to point toward
  13. bore — to tire
  14. face — part of the head
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. ball — a great time
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. face — to confront
  20. bore — to drill
  21. bore — gave birth
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. stock — goods
  24. bulb — of a plant

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