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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: net · bound · cell · calf · hand · capital · field · bulb

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. bound — certain
  3. field — for sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. net — in sport
  6. cell — in biology
  7. net — after costs
  8. field — farmland
  9. capital — a city
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. bulb — for light
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. hand — in cards
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cell — a phone
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. field — a subject
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bound — tied together
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. hand — help
  24. capital — money

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