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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: stem · squash · temple · scale · stock · rash · degree · bound

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. rash — hasty
  5. stock — shares
  6. squash — the sport
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. scale — in music
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. degree — temperature
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. bound — certain
  13. squash — to crush
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. rash — a series
  16. bound — obliged
  17. degree — from a university
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. bound — tied together
  20. stock — goods
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. stem — to come from
  23. degree — an amount
  24. scale — size or range

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