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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: temple · ruler · degree · capital · tear · hand · coach · tube

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The people resisted their cruel ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. degree — an amount
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. hand — in cards
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. degree — temperature
  10. tear — from crying
  11. capital — a city
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. tear — from crying
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. tube — a container
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. tear — to rip
  19. capital — money
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. degree — from a university
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. hand — help
  24. ruler — a monarch

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