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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 · court · bore · face · tube · chip · roll · stock

  1. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. stock — goods
  3. shower — to wash
  4. chip — for betting
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. court — for sport
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. tube — the underground
  10. shower — rain
  11. bore — to drill
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — to confront
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. stock — shares
  17. chip — to eat
  18. roll — a cake
  19. bore — to tire
  20. face — part of the head
  21. roll — a list
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. tube — a container
  24. court — of a king

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