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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: trunk · fine · wake · date · mine · stock · saw · shower

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The ________________ market has crashed.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. saw — the tool
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. shower — to wash
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. saw — the tool
  8. fine — all right
  9. date — the fruit
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. stock — goods
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. fine — high quality
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. stock — shares
  19. wake — a trail
  20. mine — for digging
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. shower — rain
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. date — on the calendar

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