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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: band · capital · bound · clip · bulb · court · pitch · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. tear — from crying
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. bulb — for light
  5. capital — money
  6. court — of law
  7. tear — from crying
  8. band — a ring
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bound — certain
  13. band — a music group
  14. court — for sport
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — a video
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bound — obliged
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. clip — for paper
  22. bound — tied together
  23. court — of a king
  24. pitch — completely

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