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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 · fall · march · board · bark · cold · stock · suit

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. cold — an illness
  4. stock — shares
  5. board — to get on
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. shower — rain
  8. stock — goods
  9. march — the month
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. suit — in cards
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — to wash
  15. fall — to drop
  16. march — the month
  17. cold — not warm
  18. board — a committee
  19. suit — clothes
  20. fall — to drop
  21. fall — the season
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. bark — to shout
  24. march — music

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