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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 · bat · fork · last · cell · temple · spell · degree

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. last — final
  3. degree — an amount
  4. degree — from a university
  5. degree — temperature
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. spell — a short time
  10. spell — magic
  11. last — to go on
  12. fork — in a road
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cell — in biology
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. capital — money
  18. last — finally
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. capital — a city
  22. spell — letters
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. temple — a place of worship

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