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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: pit · last · bulb · bark · roll · capital · content · ball

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pit — a hole
  3. bulb — for light
  4. content — the amount
  5. last — to go on
  6. last — final
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. roll — a list
  11. ball — a great time
  12. ball — a round shape
  13. bulb — for light
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. pit — in a race
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. roll — a cake
  18. ball — a dance
  19. bark — to shout
  20. last — finally
  21. capital — money
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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