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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: bear · game · present · pit · capital · bulb · mine · chest

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. present — there
  3. chest — of your body
  4. present — the time now
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. capital — money
  7. bear — the animal
  8. pit — in a race
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bulb — for light
  13. capital — a city
  14. bear — the animal
  15. mine — for digging
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. game — wild animals
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. game — a match
  21. present — a gift
  22. bulb — for light
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. chest — a box

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