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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: shower · wax · date · root · season · ground · march · stock

  1. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a plant
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. stock — goods
  5. ground — a position
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. season — of the year
  8. march — music
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. stock — shares
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. march — the month
  14. date — the fruit
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. shower — to wash
  17. ground — the earth
  18. ground — crushed
  19. root — of a word
  20. shower — rain
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. root — the cause
  23. wax — to grow
  24. march — the month

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