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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: pitcher · straw · bound · can · prune · field · shower · capital

  1. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. capital — money
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. field — for sport
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. field — a subject
  8. shower — to wash
  9. capital — a city
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. bound — tied together
  12. field — farmland
  13. can — a tin
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. can — a tin
  16. prune — to trim
  17. can — to be able to
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bound — obliged
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. bound — certain
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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