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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 116 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 · cold · capital · rush · court · last · pitch · scale

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. capital — a city
  3. court — of a king
  4. bulb — for light
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. scale — in music
  8. last — finally
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. scale — size or range
  12. cold — not warm
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. capital — money
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. bulb — for light
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitch — completely
  19. court — for sport
  20. rush — hurry
  21. cold — an illness
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. court — of law

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