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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 · safe · game · straw · cold · pop · tear · band

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. pop — to visit
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. game — wild animals
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. tear — from crying
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. pop — music
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. pop — soda
  17. toast — bread
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. band — a music group
  21. safe — a strongbox
  22. cold — an illness
  23. game — a match
  24. band — a ring

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