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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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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 · mark · nail · field · fork · saw · bat · capital

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. capital — money
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. fork — in a road
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pitch — completely
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. capital — a city
  11. field — for sport
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. saw — the tool
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. field — farmland
  16. mark — a trace
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. field — a subject
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. mark — a grade

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