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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: capital · rush · pitch · bound · bulb · prune · net · squash

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. net — in sport
  4. bound — tied together
  5. squash — to crush
  6. rush — hurry
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. capital — money
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. prune — to trim
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. bound — certain
  13. capital — a city
  14. bound — obliged
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. prune — to trim
  18. squash — the sport
  19. net — for catching
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. net — after costs
  24. bulb — for light

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