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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: last · cold · land · deal · toast · swing · bat · band

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  11. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. band — a ring
  3. swing — in golf
  4. land — ground
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. cold — an illness
  7. last — to go on
  8. land — a country
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. deal — an agreement
  11. toast — bread
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. last — finally
  15. band — a music group
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. cold — not warm
  19. swing — to play on
  20. swing — music
  21. bat — the animal
  22. last — final
  23. deal — to handle
  24. land — to come down

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