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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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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: chair · pitch · cap · cell · board · prune · capital · branch

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. prune — to trim
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. cap — a lid
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. chair — a leader
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. cell — a phone
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. prune — to trim
  14. pitch — completely
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. capital — money
  18. cell — in biology
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cap — a hat
  21. cap — of ice
  22. branch — a division
  23. board — to get on
  24. board — a committee

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