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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: board · capital · kid · fall · shower · tube · stock · suit

  1. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — clothes
  2. suit — in cards
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — to drop
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. tube — the underground
  7. stock — goods
  8. board — to get on
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. suit — to fit
  11. tube — a container
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. stock — shares
  14. shower — to wash
  15. kid — child
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. shower — rain
  18. fall — the season
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. capital — money
  22. board — a committee
  23. capital — a city
  24. kid — to tease

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