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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: capital · field · temple · hand · bass · charge · pound · land

  1. The tickets are free of ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. charge — a price
  2. hand — help
  3. field — farmland
  4. bass — the fish
  5. field — for sport
  6. charge — electricity
  7. field — a subject
  8. capital — money
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pound — a weight
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. land — a country
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. charge — in control
  19. pound — to hit hard
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. land — ground
  22. bass — low music
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. land — to come down

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