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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: season · game · shower · drill · can · stock · content · saw

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. drill — army training
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. drill — the tool
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. stock — goods
  7. season — of the year
  8. can — a tin
  9. drill — a practice
  10. content — happy
  11. game — a match
  12. stock — shares
  13. game — wild animals
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — the tool
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. can — a tin
  18. shower — rain
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. season — in sport
  21. shower — to wash
  22. content — the amount
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. stock — a soup base

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