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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: clip · straw · rash · temple · ball · capital

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — for paper
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. ball — a dance
  6. ball — a great time
  7. clip — a video
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. clip — to cut
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. rash — hasty
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rash — a series
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. straw — dry grass

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