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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 120 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: cell · mine · capital · pitcher · present · sharp · coach · drill

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. capital — money
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. present — a gift
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. present — the time now
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. sharp — clever
  13. cell — a phone
  14. drill — the tool
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. drill — army training
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. capital — a city
  21. present — there
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. drill — a practice
  24. mine — for digging

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