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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. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. key — for a lock
  7. bass — the fish
  8. cold — an illness
  9. tear — to rip
  10. key — the most important part
  11. tear — from crying
  12. key — in music
  13. shower — rain
  14. tear — from crying
  15. shower — to wash
  16. bass — low music
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. pitch — completely
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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