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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 120 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: capital · pitch · stem · net · saw · pitcher · fan · wound

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. stem — to come from
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. capital — a city
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. saw — the tool
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. net — after costs
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. capital — money
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. fan — a supporter

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