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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: bass · shower · capital · chair · game · temple · pound · rest

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. bass — the fish
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. rest — a break
  6. capital — money
  7. shower — rain
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. game — a match
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. rest — what's left
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. pound — a weight
  16. rest — what's left
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. game — wild animals
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. shower — to wash
  23. chair — a leader
  24. capital — a city

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