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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · chair · toast · race · field · snap

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. cap — a lid
  4. toast — bread
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. chair — a leader
  8. race — the arms race
  9. field — farmland
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. cap — of ice
  12. field — for sport
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. chair — a professorship
  15. cap — a hat
  16. race — a contest
  17. field — a subject
  18. race — humankind

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