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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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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: last · cell · kid · row · pitch · prune · capital · mug

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. prune — to trim
  3. last — finally
  4. pitch — completely
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cell — a phone
  10. row — to paddle
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. last — to go on
  13. capital — money
  14. mug — a cup
  15. cell — in biology
  16. row — a line
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. capital — a city
  19. kid — to tease
  20. last — final
  21. mug — to rob
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mug — a face
  24. row — a quarrel

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