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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: pitch · bass · content · bay · deal · capital · bark · spring

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. spring — the season
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bass — the fish
  8. spring — a coil
  9. pitch — completely
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. deal — to handle
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. spring — of water
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. capital — a city
  16. bark — to shout
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bass — low music
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. capital — money
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. content — the amount

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