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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: cold · shower · present · hand · toast · wave · stand · squash

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I can't ________________ this cold.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  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. toast — bread
  2. hand — help
  3. hand — in cards
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. present — there
  6. cold — not warm
  7. present — the time now
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. present — a gift
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. squash — the sport
  13. cold — an illness
  14. stand — to bear
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. squash — to crush
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. shower — to wash
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. shower — rain
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. wave — with your hand
  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