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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 120 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: chest · stock · capital · last · stand · lash · trunk · cell

  1. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of an elephant
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. last — final
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. last — finally
  7. cell — in biology
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. capital — a city
  12. stock — shares
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. stand — to bear
  15. stand — on your feet
  16. capital — money
  17. stock — goods
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cell — a phone
  20. chest — a box
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. chest — of your body
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. last — to go on

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