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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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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 · toast · field · stock · spring · game · lie · kid

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. kid — child
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — to wash
  5. kid — to tease
  6. stock — shares
  7. game — wild animals
  8. spring — of water
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. game — a match
  12. field — for sport
  13. lie — to recline
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. field — a subject
  16. spring — the season
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. shower — rain
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. stock — goods
  21. field — farmland
  22. toast — bread
  23. spring — a coil
  24. 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