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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: temple · file · bat · bore · mine · capital · bass · rush

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. file — a tool
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. bore — to tire
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. file — a document
  9. bass — low music
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bass — the fish
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mine — for digging
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a city
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bore — to drill
  24. file — a line of people

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