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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · drill · band · can · prune · cold · hide · capital

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. can — a tin
  7. capital — a city
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cold — not warm
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. can — to be able to
  14. drill — army training
  15. cold — an illness
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. drill — the tool
  20. can — a tin
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. drill — a practice
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. band — a music group

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