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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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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: bank · shower · game · last · pop · wound · stock · field

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. last — final
  3. field — farmland
  4. stock — shares
  5. wound — an injury
  6. shower — rain
  7. stock — goods
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. last — finally
  12. bank — for money
  13. game — wild animals
  14. field — for sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bank — of a river
  17. bank — for money
  18. pop — music
  19. pop — to visit
  20. pop — soda
  21. field — a subject
  22. shower — to wash
  23. last — to go on
  24. game — a match

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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