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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: cap · track · shower · spell · last · toast · firm · row

  1. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. toast — bread
  3. last — finally
  4. track — a path
  5. cap — a hat
  6. cap — of ice
  7. shower — to wash
  8. spell — letters
  9. track — a song
  10. row — a line
  11. shower — rain
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. firm — a company
  14. firm — decided
  15. last — final
  16. last — to go on
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. cap — a lid
  20. spell — a short time
  21. row — to paddle
  22. spell — magic
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. track — to keep track

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