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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: toast · kid · trunk · ball · press · band · fall · cap

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. ball — a dance
  4. press — a publisher
  5. press — to push
  6. toast — bread
  7. band — a music group
  8. kid — child
  9. fall — to drop
  10. cap — of ice
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. fall — to drop
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. fall — the season
  15. kid — to tease
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. band — a ring
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. press — newspapers
  21. cap — a hat
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. trunk — of a car
  24. ball — a great time

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