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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 120 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: sharp · present · prune · mark · capital · ground · pitcher · cell

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. present — there
  4. capital — money
  5. mark — a grade
  6. ground — a position
  7. prune — to trim
  8. cell — a phone
  9. present — a gift
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. ground — the earth
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. sharp — clever
  14. ground — crushed
  15. prune — to trim
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. cell — in biology
  18. present — the time now
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mark — a trace
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pitcher — a jug
  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