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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: pitcher · prune · saw · capital · content · bulb · ground · wind

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bulb — for light
  3. content — happy
  4. ground — a position
  5. ground — crushed
  6. saw — the tool
  7. capital — a city
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. prune — to trim
  11. bulb — for light
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. wind — moving air
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. wind — moving air
  16. capital — money
  17. content — the amount
  18. prune — to trim
  19. ground — the earth
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. pitcher — a jug

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