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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: stock · pass · perch · capital · date · shower · game · cap

  1. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — a permit
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. game — wild animals
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cap — a hat
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. date — the fruit
  12. shower — rain
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. pass — to succeed
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. stock — goods
  17. capital — money
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. stock — shares
  20. perch — the fish
  21. cap — of ice
  22. cap — a lid
  23. capital — a city
  24. pass — to spend time

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