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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spell · bear · shower · fork · arm · stock · cell · capital

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. fork — in a road
  4. stock — shares
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. spell — magic
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. stock — goods
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. bear — the animal
  14. capital — a city
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. bear — the animal
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — a short time
  19. cell — a phone
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. shower — rain
  22. cell — in biology
  23. capital — money
  24. capital — a big letter

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