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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 · trunk · calf · capital · cold · rest · band · temple

  1. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  2. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — goods
  2. calf — a young animal
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. capital — money
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. band — a music group
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. band — a ring
  11. cold — an illness
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. capital — a city
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — what's left
  21. stock — shares
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. rest — a break

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