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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.

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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: board · cold · row · squash · stem · stock · shower · lash

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — shares
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. cold — not warm
  6. squash — to crush
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. stock — goods
  9. squash — the sport
  10. row — to paddle
  11. stem — to come from
  12. board — to get on
  13. cold — an illness
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. row — a line
  16. shower — to wash
  17. board — a committee
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. shower — rain
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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