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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: foot · fall · plane · sharp · stock · shower · kid · march

  1. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The ________________ took off on time.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — part of the body
  2. shower — rain
  3. stock — shares
  4. stock — goods
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. fall — to drop
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fall — the season
  11. fall — to drop
  12. plane — an aircraft
  13. kid — child
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. shower — to wash
  17. march — the month
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. plane — a tool
  20. foot — a measure
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. sharp — clever
  23. kid — to tease
  24. plane — in geometry

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