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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 120 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. cold — an illness
  3. net — in sport
  4. net — for catching
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. bass — low music
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. hand — help
  12. bass — the fish
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. chair — a leader
  20. net — after costs
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. cold — not warm

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