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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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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 · fine · lash · rule · tear · content · pitch · prune

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. capital — money
  3. fine — high quality
  4. rule — a law
  5. capital — a city
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. tear — from crying
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. fine — all right
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. rule — government
  15. prune — to trim
  16. tear — to rip
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. prune — to trim
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. pitch — completely
  23. tear — from crying
  24. content — the amount

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