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

Word bank: pitcher · kid · bulb · race · spring · pitch · snap · cap

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The light ________________ burned out.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. bulb — for light
  6. spring — the season
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cap — a hat
  9. bulb — for light
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. snap — to click
  14. race — a contest
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. spring — of water
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cap — of ice
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. spring — a coil
  22. race — humankind
  23. pitch — completely
  24. cap — a lid

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