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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: toast · band · calf · cue · clip · field · shower · cold

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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 — the Cold War
  3. shower — rain
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. field — farmland
  6. cold — an illness
  7. band — a music group
  8. clip — for paper
  9. shower — to wash
  10. toast — bread
  11. cold — not warm
  12. calf — of the leg
  13. clip — a video
  14. cue — for pool
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. cue — a signal
  19. field — a subject
  20. field — for sport
  21. band — a ring
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cue — a hint
  24. toast — the most admired

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