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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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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: present · shower · face · net · snap · stock · board · court

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. face — to confront
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. stock — shares
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. present — the time now
  8. shower — rain
  9. face — part of the head
  10. present — there
  11. net — in sport
  12. net — after costs
  13. board — a committee
  14. board — to get on
  15. face — to point toward
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. snap — to click
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. stock — goods
  22. net — for catching
  23. court — of law
  24. present — a gift

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