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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 · rush · pitch · kid · saw · staff · capital · land

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. staff — employees
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. rush — hurry
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — to shout
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. capital — a city
  11. staff — employees
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. kid — child
  14. capital — money
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. saw — the tool
  18. land — a country
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. saw — the tool
  21. land — to come down
  22. staff — a stick
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. land — ground

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