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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: tube · stem · mine · pitcher · bat · cap · stock · shower

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. stem — to come from
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. shower — to wash
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. shower — rain
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. tube — the underground
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. tube — a container
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. cap — a hat
  18. mine — for digging
  19. stock — goods
  20. stock — shares
  21. bat — the animal
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cap — a lid
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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