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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 · shower · temple · cold · firm · bat · toast · spell

  1. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  5. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  6. When was this ________________ built?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. cold — not warm
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. cap — of ice
  5. toast — the most admired
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. shower — to wash
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cap — a lid
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. firm — steady
  12. shower — rain
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. spell — a short time
  17. toast — bread
  18. cap — a hat
  19. spell — letters
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. firm — decided
  22. bat — the animal
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. spell — magic

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