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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: plane · season · shower · net · court · stock · lie · content

  1. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. season — in sport
  3. court — of law
  4. stock — shares
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. net — for catching
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. court — for sport
  9. lie — to recline
  10. content — happy
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. shower — to wash
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. stock — goods
  16. plane — a tool
  17. net — after costs
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. content — the amount
  21. court — of a king
  22. net — in sport
  23. shower — rain
  24. lie — an untruth

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