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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 · coach · patient · degree · prune · capital · pass · kid

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. degree — from a university
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. kid — to tease
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. prune — to trim
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. degree — an amount
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. pass — a permit
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. kid — child
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. pitch — completely
  19. degree — temperature
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. prune — to trim
  24. patient — a sick person

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