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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: kid · race · temple · swing · deal · capital

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. capital — money
  4. swing — in golf
  5. kid — to tease
  6. race — a contest
  7. swing — to play on
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. deal — to handle
  14. race — the arms race
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. race — humankind
  17. kid — child
  18. swing — music

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