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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: fork · capital · game · bat · temple · land · saw · season

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. season — of the year
  3. capital — a city
  4. land — a country
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. saw — the tool
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. season — in sport
  9. land — ground
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. game — wild animals
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. saw — the tool
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. land — to come down
  18. bat — the animal
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. game — a match
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. fork — in a road
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. season — to add flavour

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