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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: cold · toast · chest · wake · date · face · lash · ruler

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. chest — of your body
  5. toast — bread
  6. chest — of your body
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. wake — a trail
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — not warm
  12. face — to confront
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. face — to point toward
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. chest — a box
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. face — part of the head

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