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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: march · temple · stock · land · ball · jam · wound · cell

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. land — to come down
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. stock — shares
  7. wound — an injury
  8. wound — an injury
  9. jam — a tight spot
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. cell — in biology
  12. march — music
  13. stock — goods
  14. cell — a phone
  15. march — the month
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. land — ground
  18. ball — a great time
  19. land — a country
  20. march — the month
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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