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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 116 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: content · mate · game · capital · pitch · last · trunk · stem

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. last — to go on
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. content — the amount
  8. mate — a friend
  9. mate — a partner
  10. last — final
  11. last — finally
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. stem — to come from
  14. pitch — completely
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. content — happy
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. capital — a city
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. mate — to breed
  21. capital — money
  22. game — a match
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. game — wild animals

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