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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: hand · pop · season · tear · capital · perch · cap · pitcher

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pop — soda
  4. season — of the year
  5. pop — to visit
  6. cap — of ice
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. tear — from crying
  10. tear — from crying
  11. capital — money
  12. tear — to rip
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. season — in sport
  15. hand — help
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. capital — a city
  19. pop — music
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. cap — a lid
  22. perch — the fish
  23. cap — a hat
  24. hand — part of the body

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