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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 116 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: drill · cold · current · stock · tear · shower · perch · content

  1. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  8. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. content — the amount
  3. cold — an illness
  4. perch — for a bird
  5. current — electric
  6. tear — to rip
  7. current — happening now
  8. drill — the tool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. stock — shares
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. drill — a practice
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. perch — the fish
  17. stock — goods
  18. tear — from crying
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. content — happy
  22. shower — to wash
  23. current — of water
  24. shower — rain

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