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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: bark · swing · capital · wake · content · pitch · game · pit

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. pit — in a race
  4. bark — to shout
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. wake — a trail
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pit — a hole
  14. content — happy
  15. content — the amount
  16. game — a match
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. swing — music
  20. pitch — completely
  21. capital — money
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. swing — in golf
  24. capital — a city

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