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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: press · stock · net · trunk · kid · shower · foot · capital

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stock — goods
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. capital — a city
  5. press — to push
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. stock — shares
  8. net — for catching
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. shower — rain
  11. net — after costs
  12. press — newspapers
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. capital — money
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. net — in sport
  19. press — a publisher
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. foot — a measure
  23. shower — to wash
  24. capital — a big letter

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