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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: arm · prune · capital · tear · deal · wind · board · pitch

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. board — to get on
  3. tear — from crying
  4. prune — to trim
  5. prune — to trim
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. deal — to handle
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. wind — moving air
  11. pitch — completely
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. board — a committee
  14. capital — money
  15. capital — a city
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. tear — to rip
  18. board — a flat piece
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. tear — from crying
  22. wind — moving air
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. deal — an agreement

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