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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 · can · bore · ruler · spring · capital · field · wake

  1. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — a place of worship
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. bore — to tire
  4. can — to be able to
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. field — for sport
  7. spring — a coil
  8. can — a tin
  9. spring — the season
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — money
  15. field — a subject
  16. spring — of water
  17. can — a tin
  18. field — farmland
  19. bore — to drill
  20. bore — gave birth
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. wake — a trail
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. ruler — for measuring

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