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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 · capital · pitch · calf · pop · bat · file · bore

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. season — of the year
  5. season — in sport
  6. pop — music
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. pop — to visit
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pop — soda
  13. calf — of the leg
  14. pitch — completely
  15. bore — to tire
  16. file — a tool
  17. capital — a city
  18. file — a line of people
  19. bore — to drill
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. file — a document
  23. capital — money
  24. calf — a young 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