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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 120 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: temple · bass · capital · field · wax · content · last · rock

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. last — finally
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. wax — to grow
  5. field — a subject
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. field — farmland
  8. rock — a stone
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. content — the amount
  12. capital — money
  13. bass — low music
  14. last — final
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. bass — the fish
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. field — for sport
  19. rock — music
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. last — to go on
  23. wax — in the ear
  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