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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 120 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: vault · cold · temple · spring · stock · pop · bat · branch

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. branch — a division
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. pop — soda
  6. spring — of water
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. stock — shares
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. branch — of a bank
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. spring — the season
  16. cold — not warm
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. pop — to visit
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. pop — music
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. spring — a coil
  23. stock — goods
  24. vault — a safe

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