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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: last · season · leaves · mark · fall · capital · club · bat

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — of a tree
  2. capital — money
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. last — to go on
  5. bat — the animal
  6. mark — a grade
  7. club — for dancing
  8. club — for golf
  9. last — final
  10. club — a group
  11. fall — to drop
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. mark — a trace
  15. season — in sport
  16. season — of the year
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. leaves — lets stay
  20. fall — the season
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. fall — to drop
  23. last — finally
  24. capital — a city

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