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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: kick · trunk · rush · ground · pitcher · cap · cold · bass

  1. He is an ace ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — in baseball
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bass — low music
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. kick — in football
  6. cap — a lid
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ground — crushed
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. rush — hurry
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bass — the fish
  16. ground — a position
  17. cold — an illness
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. cap — a hat
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. cold — not warm
  22. ground — the earth
  23. cap — of ice
  24. trunk — of a tree

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