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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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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: temple · snap · stock · lie · stand · prune · last · wound

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. stock — goods
  4. last — finally
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. last — final
  8. lie — to recline
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. wound — an injury
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. prune — to trim
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. snap — to click
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. last — to go on
  17. stand — to bear
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. prune — to trim
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. wound — an injury
  24. stand — for spectators

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