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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: march · spring · firm · toast · cap · ball · face · bat

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. face — part of the head
  3. face — to confront
  4. spring — a coil
  5. march — the month
  6. spring — the season
  7. firm — steady
  8. firm — a company
  9. spring — of water
  10. firm — decided
  11. march — music
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. ball — a dance
  14. toast — bread
  15. march — the month
  16. cap — of ice
  17. ball — a great time
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cap — a hat
  22. face — to point toward
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. cap — a lid

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