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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: season · wound · capital · fall · pop · saw · bark · court

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. pop — to visit
  3. fall — the season
  4. court — of a king
  5. bark — of a tree
  6. pop — music
  7. wound — an injury
  8. season — of the year
  9. capital — a city
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. saw — the tool
  12. capital — money
  13. pop — soda
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. fall — to drop
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. fall — to drop
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. bark — to shout
  22. court — for sport
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — of law

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