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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: cap · chest · object · toast · march · squash · cell · tear

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. chest — of your body
  3. tear — to rip
  4. march — music
  5. march — the month
  6. object — a thing
  7. toast — bread
  8. chest — a box
  9. squash — to crush
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. object — to protest
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cap — a hat
  14. tear — from crying
  15. tear — from crying
  16. object — an aim
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. chest — of your body
  19. cap — of ice
  20. march — the month
  21. cap — a lid
  22. cell — a phone
  23. cell — in biology
  24. toast — the most admired

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