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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: capital · wound · pitch · prune · cell · key · squash · hide

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. capital — a city
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. key — in music
  6. key — for a lock
  7. squash — the sport
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. capital — money
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. key — the most important part
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. prune — to trim
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pitch — completely
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. wound — an injury
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wound — an injury
  24. cell — a phone

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