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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 120 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: land · capital · last · drill · bowl · cabinet · fall · pop

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. pop — music
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. last — finally
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. land — ground
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. last — final
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. pop — soda
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — the season
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. last — to go on
  17. drill — a practice
  18. land — a country
  19. pop — to visit
  20. capital — money
  21. land — to come down
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. drill — army training
  24. drill — the tool

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