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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: shower · bank · stock · field · tear · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. shower — to wash
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. stock — goods
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. shower — rain
  7. field — for sport
  8. tear — from crying
  9. bank — for money
  10. stock — shares
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. field — a subject
  13. bank — of a river
  14. tear — from crying
  15. bank — for money
  16. tear — to rip
  17. capital — a city
  18. field — farmland

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