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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: ball · face · shower · spell · lie · stock · swing · land

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. face — to confront
  3. stock — shares
  4. ball — a great time
  5. land — to come down
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. swing — music
  8. shower — to wash
  9. face — part of the head
  10. land — a country
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — letters
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. swing — to play on
  17. land — ground
  18. swing — in golf
  19. face — to point toward
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. shower — rain
  22. spell — magic
  23. ball — a dance
  24. lie — to recline

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