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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: mark · toast · shower · cap · chest · stand · hand · game

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. stand — to bear
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. hand — in cards
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. mark — a grade
  7. game — a match
  8. cap — a hat
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. toast — bread
  13. chest — of your body
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. cap — a lid
  16. mark — a trace
  17. shower — rain
  18. chest — a box
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. hand — help
  21. shower — to wash
  22. cap — of ice
  23. chest — of your body
  24. game — wild animals

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