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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: club · toast · rash · last · march · wake · cold · cap

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. cap — a hat
  3. rash — a series
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. cap — of ice
  8. march — the month
  9. toast — bread
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — for dancing
  13. wake — a trail
  14. last — to go on
  15. cap — a lid
  16. rash — hasty
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. club — a group
  19. cold — an illness
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. cold — not warm
  24. last — final

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