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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. band — a music group
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. court — of law
  6. branch — a division
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. lie — to recline
  9. court — of a king
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. spell — letters
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. court — for sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. stock — goods
  17. branch — of a bank
  18. pass — a permit
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — a short time
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. pass — to succeed

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