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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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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: stock · lash · rock · land · mate · shower · kid · cold

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. land — ground
  4. shower — rain
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. land — to come down
  7. kid — to tease
  8. kid — child
  9. shower — to wash
  10. mate — to breed
  11. stock — goods
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. rock — a stone
  15. cold — an illness
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. stock — shares
  19. cold — not warm
  20. rock — music
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. mate — a partner
  24. land — a country

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