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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: bark · cap · fan · toast · mark · swing · roll · chest

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. cap — of ice
  5. toast — bread
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. chest — a box
  8. chest — of your body
  9. mark — a trace
  10. cap — a hat
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. cap — a lid
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. swing — in golf
  15. roll — a list
  16. fan — to cool the air
  17. mark — a grade
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. swing — music
  20. chest — of your body
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. swing — to play on
  24. bark — to shout

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