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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: prune · cabinet · pitcher · fork · capital · tear · drill · ball

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. capital — a city
  3. drill — a practice
  4. drill — army training
  5. capital — money
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. tear — to rip
  8. tear — from crying
  9. fork — in a road
  10. ball — a great time
  11. prune — to trim
  12. tear — from crying
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. prune — to trim
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ball — a dance
  24. drill — the tool

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