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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. kid — child
  3. shower — to wash
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. shower — rain
  6. fall — to drop
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. fall — the season
  10. stock — shares
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. present — a gift
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. fall — to drop
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. content — the amount
  17. content — happy
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. kid — to tease
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. pitch — completely
  22. present — there
  23. present — the time now
  24. trunk — of a tree

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