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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: date · wave · cold · pitcher · shower · content · stock · club

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. club — for golf
  3. stock — shares
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. club — for dancing
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cold — an illness
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. content — videos and posts
  12. stock — goods
  13. content — the amount
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. club — a group
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. content — happy
  19. date — the fruit
  20. shower — rain
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. cold — not warm
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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