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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: mate · hand · season · branch · capital · pitch · spell · court

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. mate — a partner
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. spell — magic
  6. mate — a friend
  7. court — of law
  8. spell — letters
  9. court — for sport
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. mate — to breed
  12. branch — a division
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. pitch — completely
  15. season — in sport
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. court — of a king
  18. season — of the year
  19. capital — a city
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. capital — money
  24. hand — help

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