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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: pound · spring · toast · shower · cap · land · game · last

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. last — to go on
  3. cap — a lid
  4. land — ground
  5. spring — a coil
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. land — to come down
  8. land — a country
  9. game — wild animals
  10. spring — of water
  11. pound — a weight
  12. last — final
  13. toast — bread
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. shower — rain
  16. cap — of ice
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. game — a match
  19. cap — a hat
  20. spring — the season
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. last — finally
  24. shower — to wash

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