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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 116 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: land · lie · leaves · stock · shower · wind

  1. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — to go away
  2. shower — to wash
  3. land — to come down
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — moving air
  10. shower — rain
  11. lie — to recline
  12. stock — shares
  13. land — ground
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. land — a country
  16. stock — goods
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. lie — an untruth

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