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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: pitch · pitcher · wind · tear · bowl · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — a city
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bowl — a dish
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. pitch — completely
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. tear — to rip
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. capital — money
  17. tear — from crying
  18. wind — to turn a key

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