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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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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: bore · branch · shower · row · stock · court

  1. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  2. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — a division
  2. bore — to drill
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. shower — to wash
  7. court — of law
  8. court — for sport
  9. stock — shares
  10. shower — rain
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. bore — to tire
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. row — a line
  15. stock — goods
  16. row — to paddle
  17. court — of a king
  18. shower — a meteor shower

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