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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: roll · bark · squash · capital · ruler · clip · temple · row

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. bark — a dog's sound
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. ruler — for measuring
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. squash — the sport
  7. roll — a cake
  8. squash — to crush
  9. clip — a video
  10. roll — a list
  11. clip — to cut
  12. capital — money
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. bark — to shout
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. clip — for paper
  20. row — a line
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. row — to paddle
  24. roll — on a roll

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