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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 120 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: cap · capital · wind · last · hand · pitch · bulb · land

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. land — to come down
  3. land — a country
  4. last — finally
  5. land — ground
  6. bulb — for light
  7. capital — money
  8. cap — of ice
  9. last — final
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. cap — a lid
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. pitch — completely
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. last — to go on
  19. capital — a city
  20. cap — a hat
  21. hand — help
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. wind — moving air
  24. hand — in cards

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