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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 · cold · temple · board · march · stock · race · land

  1. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — a meteor shower
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. race — humankind
  4. march — the month
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. stock — shares
  8. land — ground
  9. cold — not warm
  10. shower — to wash
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. march — the month
  14. stock — goods
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. board — a committee
  18. cold — an illness
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. shower — rain
  21. march — music
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. board — to get on

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