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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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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: drill · capital · fork · pitch · tear · prune

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. 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. capital — a big letter
  2. tear — from crying
  3. capital — money
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. pitch — completely
  7. tear — to rip
  8. drill — a practice
  9. fork — in a road
  10. drill — army training
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. tear — from crying
  15. capital — a city
  16. drill — the tool
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. 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