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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: spell · cold · object · toast · shower · chest · face · field

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. cold — an illness
  3. face — to confront
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. spell — letters
  7. face — part of the head
  8. toast — bread
  9. shower — rain
  10. cold — not warm
  11. spell — a short time
  12. object — a thing
  13. object — to protest
  14. chest — of your body
  15. object — an aim
  16. face — to point toward
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — for sport
  20. spell — magic
  21. field — a subject
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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