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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. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. cold — an illness
  3. chest — a box
  4. fall — the season
  5. bound — tied together
  6. fall — to drop
  7. shower — to wash
  8. march — music
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bound — certain
  12. march — the month
  13. shower — rain
  14. toast — bread
  15. swing — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bound — obliged
  20. fall — to drop
  21. march — the month
  22. swing — in golf
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. swing — to play on

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