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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: perch · wave · temple · cold · bear · board · capital · game

  1. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. board — a committee
  3. cold — an illness
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. board — to get on
  7. bear — the animal
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. game — wild animals
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. cold — not warm
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. perch — the fish
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. game — a match
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. game — a kind of play

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