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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: stock · bass · club · wind · cell · temple

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. bass — the fish
  3. club — for dancing
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. stock — goods
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. bass — low music
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. cell — a phone
  12. cell — in biology
  13. stock — shares
  14. wind — moving air
  15. club — for golf
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. club — a group
  18. cell — in a prison

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