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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: pitcher · pitch · date · mine · last · race · capital · tear

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. last — finally
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. tear — to rip
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. last — to go on
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. mine — for digging
  12. tear — from crying
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. tear — from crying
  15. last — final
  16. race — a contest
  17. capital — a city
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. race — humankind
  20. race — the arms race
  21. capital — money
  22. pitch — completely
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. pitcher — a jug

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