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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: club · cell · capital · pitcher · pop · pound

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. club — for golf
  3. pop — soda
  4. capital — a city
  5. club — for dancing
  6. pop — music
  7. club — a group
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. pound — a weight
  16. capital — money
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. pop — to visit

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