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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: chest · file · bat · pitcher · mark · club · bay · cabinet

  1. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. mark — a trace
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. bat — the animal
  10. file — a tool
  11. file — a document
  12. mark — to pay attention
  13. club — for golf
  14. mark — a grade
  15. chest — a box
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. club — for dancing
  18. club — a group
  19. file — a line of people
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. chest — of your body
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. bay — a part of the sea

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