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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I've got to change the light ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cap — a hat
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. bass — low music
  5. cap — a lid
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. capital — money
  9. hand — help
  10. bulb — for light
  11. ground — a position
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. ground — the earth
  14. ground — crushed
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. cap — of ice
  17. tear — to rip
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. capital — a city
  20. hand — in cards
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bulb — for light
  23. tear — from crying
  24. bass — the fish

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