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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: temple · bat · cap · rest · nail · trunk · field · capital

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. capital — money
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. cap — a hat
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. cap — of ice
  11. field — farmland
  12. rest — what's left
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. field — a subject
  18. field — for sport
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. rest — a break
  21. capital — a city
  22. cap — a lid
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — the animal

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