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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: saw · pitcher · kid · prune · tube · pop · capital · branch

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. We're almost out of ________________.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. saw — the tool
  4. saw — the tool
  5. kid — child
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. pop — to visit
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. capital — money
  11. prune — to trim
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. branch — a division
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. tube — the underground
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. capital — a city
  20. tube — a container
  21. pop — soda
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. kid — to tease
  24. pop — music

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