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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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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: bore · branch · shower · row · stock · court · pitch · wound

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. bore — to tire
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. wound — an injury
  8. branch — a division
  9. wound — an injury
  10. shower — to wash
  11. court — of law
  12. row — to paddle
  13. stock — goods
  14. court — for sport
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. stock — shares
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. bore — to drill
  19. shower — rain
  20. court — of a king
  21. pitch — completely
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. wound — past of 'wind'
  24. row — a line

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