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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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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. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. spring — a coil
  4. capital — money
  5. bulb — for light
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. spring — of water
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. ground — the earth
  10. degree — from a university
  11. pitch — completely
  12. spring — the season
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. degree — an amount
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. ground — a position
  18. game — a match
  19. degree — temperature
  20. ground — crushed
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — a city
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. game — wild animals

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