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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: pitch · trunk · row · cold · nail · mug · spell · capital

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. row — a line
  3. spell — a short time
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. capital — a city
  7. mug — a face
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. mug — a cup
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pitch — completely
  16. capital — money
  17. spell — magic
  18. spell — letters
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. cold — not warm
  21. row — to paddle
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. mug — to rob

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