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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: toast · season · hand · cabinet · court · cold · race · object

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. object — to protest
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. object — an aim
  5. hand — help
  6. court — for sport
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. race — the arms race
  11. season — of the year
  12. toast — bread
  13. court — of a king
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. race — a contest
  16. race — humankind
  17. hand — in cards
  18. season — in sport
  19. court — of law
  20. object — a thing
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — the Cold War

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