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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: club · bat · staff · game · field · capital · object · fall

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. field — farmland
  3. bat — the animal
  4. capital — a city
  5. club — a group
  6. fall — the season
  7. field — a subject
  8. game — a match
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. capital — money
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. club — for golf
  13. object — to protest
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — a stick
  16. fall — to drop
  17. staff — employees
  18. club — for dancing
  19. game — wild animals
  20. fall — to drop
  21. object — a thing
  22. field — for sport
  23. object — an aim
  24. game — a kind of play

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