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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: ground · capital · march · temple · hand · coach · last · wound

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. last — final
  3. last — to go on
  4. march — music
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. capital — a city
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. march — the month
  11. ground — a position
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. march — the month
  14. ground — the earth
  15. wound — an injury
  16. hand — help
  17. last — finally
  18. wound — an injury
  19. hand — in cards
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. ground — crushed
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. capital — money
  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