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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: pitch · content · bear · clip · capital · fan · drill · pitcher

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pitch — completely
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. capital — money
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. clip — to cut
  7. content — happy
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. content — the amount
  11. bear — the animal
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. drill — army training
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. capital — a city
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. clip — a video
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. drill — the tool
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. drill — a practice
  24. clip — for paper

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