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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: snap · race · band · staff · toast · cold · last · foot

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. snap — to click
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. race — a contest
  6. race — the arms race
  7. band — a ring
  8. last — final
  9. race — humankind
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. staff — a stick
  12. last — to go on
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. staff — employees
  15. toast — bread
  16. foot — the bottom
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cold — not warm
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. staff — employees
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. last — finally
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. band — a music group

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