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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: tear · swing · cap · kid · present · toast

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. cap — of ice
  3. present — a gift
  4. kid — to tease
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. cap — a lid
  7. tear — from crying
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. swing — in golf
  10. swing — to play on
  11. cap — a hat
  12. present — there
  13. kid — child
  14. swing — music
  15. present — the time now
  16. toast — bread
  17. tear — to rip
  18. tear — from crying

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