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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: chest · court · dip · pop · pitcher · capital · fine · bulb

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of a king
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. capital — money
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. bulb — for light
  8. fine — all right
  9. dip — to sink
  10. pop — music
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — of law
  13. bulb — for light
  14. pop — soda
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. fine — a penalty
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. fine — high quality
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. chest — a box
  22. pop — to visit
  23. capital — a city
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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