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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: capital · last · pitch · cold · perch · roll · leaves · kick

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. perch — the fish
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. pitch — completely
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. capital — a city
  10. roll — a list
  11. roll — a cake
  12. cold — an illness
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kick — in football
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. last — final
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. capital — money
  23. last — to go on
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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