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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: ground · mark · spell · capital · march · bank · clip · pitch

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. march — the month
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. spell — magic
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. capital — a city
  6. spell — a short time
  7. mark — a trace
  8. ground — the earth
  9. mark — a grade
  10. spell — letters
  11. march — the month
  12. capital — money
  13. bank — of a river
  14. march — music
  15. mark — to pay attention
  16. pitch — completely
  17. ground — a position
  18. bank — for money
  19. bank — for money
  20. clip — a video
  21. ground — crushed
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. clip — for paper
  24. clip — to cut

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