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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 120 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
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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: stem · shower · cold · straw · stock · pitcher · rock · lash

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. I don't want to ________________ the boat.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. stock — shares
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. shower — to wash
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. shower — rain
  12. stock — goods
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — to come from
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. cold — not warm
  18. rock — music
  19. rock — a stone
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. cold — an illness
  24. rock — to move gently

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