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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: bulb · net · wave · pop · capital · clip · hand · season

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. pop — soda
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. season — of the year
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. net — in sport
  8. bulb — for light
  9. pop — to visit
  10. clip — a video
  11. bulb — for light
  12. wave — with your hand
  13. hand — in cards
  14. capital — money
  15. net — after costs
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. season — in sport
  18. net — for catching
  19. pop — music
  20. hand — help
  21. clip — for paper
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. capital — a city
  24. clip — to cut

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