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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: date · wound · last · track · capital · pitch · lie · prune

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. capital — money
  3. last — to go on
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. lie — to recline
  6. wound — an injury
  7. track — to keep track
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. last — finally
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. track — a song
  12. track — a path
  13. prune — to trim
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. prune — to trim
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wound — an injury
  18. pitch — completely
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. last — final
  21. capital — a city
  22. date — the fruit
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. date — on the calendar

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