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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: bulb · shower · band · spring · ground · stock · pitcher · lean

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. ground — a position
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. spring — a coil
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bulb — for light
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bulb — for light
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. spring — the season
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. lean — to bend
  16. stock — shares
  17. stock — goods
  18. shower — rain
  19. ground — crushed
  20. shower — to wash
  21. spring — of water
  22. band — a music group
  23. lean — thin
  24. bulb — of a plant

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