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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: bound · pit · capital · fan · lean · kid · bulb · spring

  1. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — to rest against
  2. bound — certain
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lean — thin
  5. kid — to tease
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bulb — for light
  8. capital — money
  9. bound — tied together
  10. kid — child
  11. pit — a hole
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. bound — obliged
  14. spring — the season
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. capital — a city
  17. spring — of water
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. spring — a coil
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. pit — in a race

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