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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: shower · ruler · clip · capital · stock · kid · lash · jam

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. shower — to wash
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. stock — goods
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. kid — to tease
  11. shower — rain
  12. stock — shares
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. clip — a video
  15. capital — money
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. kid — child
  20. clip — for paper
  21. capital — a city
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. clip — to cut
  24. jam — a tight spot

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