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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 · spring · chair · cap · racket · bark · shower · season

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chair — a leader
  8. season — in sport
  9. stock — shares
  10. cap — a hat
  11. spring — of water
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. cap — of ice
  14. spring — the season
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. shower — rain
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. season — of the year
  19. cap — a lid
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. bark — to shout
  24. stock — goods

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