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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 · bay · sharp · mark · capital · file · chest · march

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. march — the month
  4. pitch — completely
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. march — the month
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. capital — a city
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. file — a line of people
  12. chest — of your body
  13. chest — of your body
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. mark — a trace
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. march — music
  18. file — a document
  19. capital — money
  20. sharp — clever
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. mark — a grade
  23. chest — a box
  24. file — a tool

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