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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: stock · tube · temple · cold · wake · ground · cap · branch

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — goods
  5. tube — the underground
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. cap — of ice
  8. ground — the earth
  9. branch — a division
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cap — a lid
  14. stock — shares
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. cap — a hat
  17. ground — a position
  18. wake — a trail
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. tube — a container
  24. ground — crushed

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