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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: present · band · march · hide · stock · game · chest · shower

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. band — a ring
  3. present — a gift
  4. band — a music group
  5. stock — goods
  6. shower — to wash
  7. stock — shares
  8. shower — rain
  9. march — the month
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. march — the month
  18. march — music
  19. present — the time now
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — wild animals
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal skin

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