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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: object · pit · bat · craft · pitch · cold · capital · trunk

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. object — an aim
  4. bat — the animal
  5. object — a thing
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. craft — a skill
  8. craft — boats
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. capital — a city
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. object — to protest
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. pit — in a race
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cold — not warm
  23. capital — money
  24. cold — an illness

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