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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: wake · stock · staff · cell · cold · net · rule · shower

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  10. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. net — for catching
  3. rule — government
  4. staff — employees
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. staff — a stick
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. wake — before a funeral
  10. staff — employees
  11. net — in sport
  12. wake — a trail
  13. shower — rain
  14. cell — in biology
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. net — after costs
  17. stock — shares
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rule — a law
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. cell — a phone
  22. stock — goods
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — the Cold War

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