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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
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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: cue · last · field · spring · kick · march · cold · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. spring — the season
  3. march — music
  4. last — to go on
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. last — finally
  7. cue — a hint
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. cold — an illness
  10. spring — of water
  11. cue — a signal
  12. cue — for pool
  13. march — the month
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. last — final
  17. field — farmland
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. spring — a coil
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. cold — not warm
  23. march — the month
  24. kick — in football

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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