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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: stock · temple · bat · staff · roll · cold · march · leaves

  1. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. cold — an illness
  4. roll — a list
  5. staff — a stick
  6. roll — a cake
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — not warm
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. stock — shares
  11. staff — employees
  12. march — music
  13. bat — the animal
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. leaves — of a tree
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. stock — goods
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. leaves — lets stay
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. march — the month

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