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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: face · row · ground · march · shower · spring · stock · present

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. spring — the season
  3. row — a line
  4. ground — the earth
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. ground — crushed
  7. spring — a coil
  8. shower — rain
  9. march — music
  10. march — the month
  11. march — the month
  12. present — the time now
  13. spring — of water
  14. present — there
  15. stock — shares
  16. face — to confront
  17. stock — goods
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. face — to point toward
  20. shower — to wash
  21. row — to paddle
  22. ground — a position
  23. present — a gift
  24. row — a quarrel

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