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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: fine · tube · spell · pitch · root · pitcher · capital · field

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. tube — the underground
  3. spell — a short time
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. pitch — completely
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. field — for sport
  8. field — farmland
  9. capital — money
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. root — of a word
  13. fine — high quality
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. field — a subject
  16. root — the cause
  17. tube — a container
  18. root — of a plant
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. fine — a penalty
  21. spell — letters
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. spell — magic

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