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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: staff · bound · capital · rush · net · hand · prune · ground

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. bound — obliged
  3. ground — a position
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. staff — employees
  8. rush — hurry
  9. hand — help
  10. staff — employees
  11. bound — certain
  12. hand — in cards
  13. net — in sport
  14. net — for catching
  15. capital — a city
  16. net — after costs
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. prune — to trim
  20. ground — the earth
  21. capital — money
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. staff — a stick
  24. bound — tied together

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