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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: season · shower · capital · plane · club · stock · tear · game

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. capital — money
  5. game — a match
  6. club — for golf
  7. season — in sport
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. shower — rain
  10. tear — to rip
  11. season — of the year
  12. stock — goods
  13. tear — from crying
  14. shower — to wash
  15. game — wild animals
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. capital — a city
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. stock — shares
  22. plane — a tool
  23. club — a group
  24. club — for dancing

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