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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: stock · scale · squash · temple · bulb · cold · prune · game

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — goods
  5. prune — to trim
  6. scale — size or range
  7. cold — an illness
  8. game — a match
  9. prune — to trim
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bulb — for light
  14. stock — shares
  15. scale — in music
  16. squash — to crush
  17. cold — not warm
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. game — wild animals
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. temple — a place of worship

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