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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 · spring · stock · squash · face · ground · foot · ball

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. squash — to crush
  4. face — to point toward
  5. stock — goods
  6. spring — a coil
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. ground — a position
  10. face — part of the head
  11. stock — shares
  12. shower — rain
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. shower — to wash
  15. foot — a measure
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. squash — the sport
  19. spring — of water
  20. foot — the bottom
  21. spring — the season
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. ball — a dance
  24. face — to confront

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