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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: band · temple · lash · stem · patient · rest · cold · stock

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. stock — goods
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. stock — shares
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. band — a music group
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. rest — what's left
  15. band — a ring
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. rest — a break
  19. stem — to come from
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. band — a rubber band

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