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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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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 · bass · cold · swing · hide · capital · row · kid

  1. When was this ________________ built?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bass — the fish
  4. capital — a city
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. capital — money
  9. swing — music
  10. row — a line
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bass — low music
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. row — to paddle
  15. swing — to play on
  16. kid — to tease
  17. cold — an illness
  18. swing — in golf
  19. cold — not warm
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. kid — child
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. capital — a big letter

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