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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. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. band — a music group
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. cold — not warm
  6. band — a ring
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. bear — the animal
  11. pound — a weight
  12. bear — the animal
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. toast — bread
  17. cold — an illness
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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