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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: band · can · pass · capital · prune · ground · field · bat

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. can — a tin
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. prune — to trim
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. pass — a permit
  8. capital — money
  9. field — a subject
  10. field — farmland
  11. pass — to succeed
  12. prune — to trim
  13. band — a music group
  14. ground — a position
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. can — a tin
  18. field — for sport
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. ground — crushed
  21. band — a ring
  22. bat — the animal
  23. capital — a city
  24. ground — the earth

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