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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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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. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The King held a masked ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. tear — from crying
  8. bear — the animal
  9. tear — from crying
  10. present — the time now
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. bear — the animal
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. season — of the year
  15. ball — a great time
  16. march — music
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. march — the month
  19. march — the month
  20. season — in sport
  21. present — a gift
  22. tear — to rip
  23. ball — a dance
  24. capital — money

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