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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: temple · prune · capital · last · file · coach · bass · pitch

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  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. temple — a place of worship
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. last — final
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. prune — to trim
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. file — a tool
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. file — a document
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. prune — to trim
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. pitch — completely
  18. bass — low music
  19. last — to go on
  20. capital — a city
  21. last — finally
  22. capital — money
  23. file — a line of people
  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