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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: branch · chest · cold · net · pitch · squash · capital · scale

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Biology is a ________________ of science.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. net — for catching
  4. capital — a city
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — size or range
  8. scale — in music
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. net — in sport
  12. chest — a box
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. capital — money
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the sport
  18. net — after costs
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. cold — an illness
  24. branch — a division

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