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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 · court · degree · spring · chest · swing · stand · temple

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ball is in your ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. chest — of your body
  4. spring — the season
  5. degree — temperature
  6. capital — money
  7. swing — to play on
  8. degree — from a university
  9. swing — music
  10. spring — of water
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. court — of law
  13. capital — a city
  14. chest — of your body
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. chest — a box
  18. court — of a king
  19. spring — a coil
  20. stand — to bear
  21. court — for sport
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. degree — an amount
  24. swing — in golf

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