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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. stand — to bear
  3. capital — a city
  4. present — a gift
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. swing — music
  11. present — the time now
  12. tear — from crying
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. capital — money
  15. swing — in golf
  16. present — there
  17. bulb — for light
  18. tear — to rip
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. mine — for digging
  21. swing — to play on
  22. season — of the year
  23. season — in sport
  24. tear — from crying

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