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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: stock · court · shower · bass · trunk · temple · mine · tear

  1. The ball is in your ________________.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — for sport
  2. bass — the fish
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. tear — from crying
  5. shower — rain
  6. tear — to rip
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. court — of law
  10. tear — from crying
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. court — of a king
  13. stock — shares
  14. shower — to wash
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. bass — low music
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. mine — for digging

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