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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: capital · spell · pop · temple · last · cold · tear · current

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. current — of water
  3. capital — a city
  4. pop — to visit
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. tear — to rip
  8. current — electric
  9. pop — music
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. spell — a short time
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. spell — magic
  14. current — happening now
  15. pop — soda
  16. last — to go on
  17. tear — from crying
  18. last — finally
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — money
  21. tear — from crying
  22. last — final
  23. cold — not warm
  24. temple — side of the head

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