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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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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: bulb · rash · rock · pop · capital · cap · game · land

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. pop — music
  3. capital — a city
  4. rash — a series
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — a match
  7. pop — soda
  8. land — a country
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. pop — to visit
  11. rock — a stone
  12. rash — hasty
  13. cap — a lid
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. game — wild animals
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rock — music
  18. cap — a hat
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bulb — for light
  21. land — to come down
  22. bulb — for light
  23. capital — money
  24. cap — of ice

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