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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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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 · stock · drill · date · saw · suit · branch

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. suit — to fit
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. drill — a practice
  6. court — for sport
  7. drill — the tool
  8. branch — a division
  9. shower — rain
  10. suit — clothes
  11. suit — in cards
  12. date — the fruit
  13. saw — the tool
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. saw — the tool
  16. shower — to wash
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. stock — shares
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. court — of a king
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. court — of law
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. drill — army training

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