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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: bore · field · rule · wax · roll · temple · capital · last

  1. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We're on a ________________ here.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. capital — a city
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. bore — to tire
  5. last — final
  6. field — for sport
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. field — farmland
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. roll — a cake
  12. last — finally
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bore — to drill
  15. rule — government
  16. wax — to grow
  17. roll — a list
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. capital — money
  21. roll — on a roll
  22. last — to go on
  23. rule — a law
  24. field — a subject

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