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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 116 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: stock · shower · hand · court · stick · rule · season · bowl

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  15. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. court — of law
  3. season — in sport
  4. season — of the year
  5. stock — goods
  6. stick — to attach or keep to
  7. court — of a king
  8. shower — rain
  9. hand — in cards
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. bowl — to roll
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. bowl — a dish
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. court — for sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. stock — shares
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. rule — government
  24. rule — a law

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