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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
468
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: pitch · stock · shower · bass · wake · patient · current · capital

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. current — of water
  3. bass — low music
  4. wake — a trail
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. current — electric
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. pitch — completely
  10. capital — money
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. current — happening now
  14. stock — shares
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. stock — goods
  17. shower — rain
  18. capital — a city
  19. bass — the fish
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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