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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: file · pitch · spell · capital · march · cell

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. capital — a city
  3. march — music
  4. file — a tool
  5. cell — a phone
  6. spell — a short time
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. march — the month
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. file — a line of people
  11. spell — letters
  12. file — a document
  13. spell — magic
  14. march — the month
  15. cell — in biology
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. capital — money
  18. pitch — completely

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