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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: hand · cap · shower · prune · current · stock · pitcher · kick

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cap — a lid
  4. shower — rain
  5. current — happening now
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. cap — a hat
  8. hand — help
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. hand — in cards
  13. current — electric
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. current — of water
  20. kick — in football
  21. stock — shares
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. prune — to trim
  24. cap — of ice

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