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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: bulb · capital · rule · last · club · bat · fall · bass

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. club — a group
  5. bass — low music
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bulb — for light
  8. capital — money
  9. club — for dancing
  10. last — to go on
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. club — for golf
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bulb — for light
  16. fall — to drop
  17. bass — the fish
  18. fall — the season
  19. rule — government
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. capital — a city
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. bat — the animal

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