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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: wound · game · stock · sharp · bay · kid · stem · shower

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. My mare is ________________ in color.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. stem — to come from
  3. sharp — clever
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. kid — to tease
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. game — wild animals
  10. wound — an injury
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. bay — a horse colour
  14. game — a match
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bay — to keep at bay
  17. stock — goods
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. wound — an injury
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stock — shares
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. shower — rain
  24. kid — child

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