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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 · clip · stock · cue · lie · season · field · pitcher

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. shower — rain
  3. stock — goods
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. field — farmland
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. lie — to recline
  8. cue — a signal
  9. stock — shares
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. clip — for paper
  12. field — for sport
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. cue — a hint
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. season — in sport
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. clip — a video
  20. season — of the year
  21. cue — for pool
  22. field — a subject
  23. clip — to cut
  24. lie — an untruth

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