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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: bulb · court · pitcher · spring · capital · drill · bound · tube

  1. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. court — of law
  3. tube — a container
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. bound — tied together
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. court — for sport
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. spring — of water
  14. spring — a coil
  15. tube — the underground
  16. capital — a city
  17. drill — the tool
  18. drill — army training
  19. court — of a king
  20. bulb — for light
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. spring — the season
  23. bulb — for light
  24. bound — obliged

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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