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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: squash · net · cold · last · stock · temple · mark · straw

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. stock — goods
  3. squash — the sport
  4. stock — shares
  5. cold — not warm
  6. net — in sport
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. mark — a trace
  11. last — to go on
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. net — after costs
  14. squash — to crush
  15. last — finally
  16. squash — the vegetable
  17. cold — an illness
  18. mark — a grade
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. last — final
  21. net — for catching
  22. temple — side of the head
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. straw — a straw man

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