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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: shower · face · temple · cold · toast · cap · land · coach

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. land — ground
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. toast — bread
  5. face — to point toward
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a lid
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. shower — rain
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. cold — not warm
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. shower — to wash
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. land — to come down
  19. cap — a hat
  20. face — part of the head
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. land — a country

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