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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: toast · chair · kid · shower · game · cap · mark · branch

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. branch — a division
  5. kid — child
  6. mark — a trace
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. chair — a leader
  9. toast — bread
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. cap — a lid
  12. game — a match
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. game — wild animals
  15. cap — of ice
  16. shower — rain
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. kid — to tease
  19. shower — to wash
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. cap — a hat
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. mark — a grade

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