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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: club · bear · bulb · capital · spell · cold · tear · press

  1. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the button?
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. press — a publisher
  5. bear — the animal
  6. tear — from crying
  7. club — a group
  8. press — newspapers
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. spell — a short time
  11. bulb — for light
  12. club — for golf
  13. capital — a city
  14. spell — magic
  15. spell — letters
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. tear — to rip
  18. club — for dancing
  19. tear — from crying
  20. bulb — for light
  21. press — to push
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. capital — money
  24. cold — an illness

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