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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 · clip · vault · rest · mine · present · tear · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. present — a gift
  3. present — there
  4. mine — for digging
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. rest — what's left
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. clip — to cut
  10. capital — money
  11. clip — a video
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rest — a break
  14. vault — a safe
  15. rest — what's left
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. tear — from crying
  20. clip — for paper
  21. capital — a city
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. present — the time now
  24. tear — to rip

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