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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 116 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: cap · pitch · race · capital · tube · spell · tear · branch

  1. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. tube — a container
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. spell — a short time
  7. race — the arms race
  8. spell — letters
  9. tear — from crying
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cap — a hat
  12. pitch — completely
  13. capital — money
  14. cap — a lid
  15. cap — of ice
  16. branch — a division
  17. tube — the underground
  18. race — humankind
  19. spell — magic
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. tear — to rip
  23. race — a contest
  24. capital — a city

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