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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 · bound · net · bat · race · wake

  1. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. bat — the animal
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. wound — an injury
  5. net — after costs
  6. season — of the year
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. net — for catching
  11. bound — obliged
  12. race — a contest
  13. net — in sport
  14. wake — before a funeral
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. capital — a city
  17. bound — certain
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. season — in sport
  21. wake — a trail
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. capital — money

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