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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. bulb — for light
  5. season — of the year
  6. wound — an injury
  7. bat — the animal
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bear — the animal
  16. bulb — for light
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. bear — the animal
  21. clip — a video
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. wound — an injury

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