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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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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 · stick · present · march · court · bass · capital · row

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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. stick — a piece of wood
  4. present — there
  5. present — a gift
  6. court — of a king
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. stick — a piece of wood
  9. capital — a city
  10. bass — the fish
  11. row — a quarrel
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. court — for sport
  14. march — the month
  15. march — music
  16. capital — money
  17. row — a line
  18. march — the month
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. bass — low music
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. court — of law
  23. present — the time now
  24. row — to paddle

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