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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. staff — employees
  3. stock — shares
  4. staff — a stick
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. shower — to wash
  10. trunk — of an elephant
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. date — the fruit
  13. shower — rain
  14. chest — of your body
  15. band — a music group
  16. staff — employees
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — letters
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — a box
  22. band — a ring
  23. spell — magic
  24. band — a rubber band

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