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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: pass · wind · wound · saw · capital · spell · tube · temple

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. pass — a permit
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. wind — moving air
  10. wound — an injury
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. wound — an injury
  13. capital — money
  14. spell — letters
  15. saw — the tool
  16. spell — magic
  17. wind — moving air
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — a city
  20. saw — the tool
  21. tube — the underground
  22. tube — a container
  23. spell — a short time
  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