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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: capital · kick · field · bore · cap · tear · bulb · game

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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. cap — of ice
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. bore — to tire
  6. capital — money
  7. bulb — for light
  8. cap — a lid
  9. capital — a city
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. game — wild animals
  13. tear — from crying
  14. bore — to drill
  15. field — a subject
  16. field — for sport
  17. cap — a hat
  18. tear — from crying
  19. kick — in football
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. game — a match
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. field — farmland

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