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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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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 · pitcher · prune · current · hand · fork · vault · bat

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. capital — a city
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. prune — to trim
  8. capital — money
  9. vault — a safe
  10. bat — the animal
  11. prune — to trim
  12. hand — help
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. current — happening now
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. current — electric
  19. fork — in a road
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. hand — in cards
  22. current — of water
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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