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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: wind · stock · wound · season · staff · shower · chest · march

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chest — a box
  4. march — music
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. wind — moving air
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wind — moving air
  12. march — the month
  13. staff — a stick
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. season — of the year
  16. staff — employees
  17. chest — of your body
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. staff — employees
  20. march — the month
  21. season — in sport
  22. stock — shares
  23. chest — of your body
  24. wound — an injury

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