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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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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: bat · bear · pitcher · clip · capital · march · firm · stick

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. bear — the animal
  5. march — music
  6. clip — a video
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. firm — steady
  12. firm — decided
  13. bat — the animal
  14. capital — money
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. march — the month
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. capital — a city
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bear — the animal
  23. march — the month
  24. firm — a company

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