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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: ball · wound · band · shower · stock · capital · suit · club

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. suit — to fit
  3. club — for dancing
  4. wound — an injury
  5. ball — a dance
  6. suit — clothes
  7. capital — a city
  8. band — a ring
  9. ball — a great time
  10. shower — rain
  11. stock — shares
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. suit — in cards
  16. club — for golf
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. band — a music group
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. club — a group
  23. wound — an injury
  24. ball — a round shape

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