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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: toast · cue · chest · land · bass · pitcher · tear · capital

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. tear — to rip
  3. tear — from crying
  4. land — a country
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bass — low music
  8. cue — for pool
  9. bass — the fish
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — a box
  12. land — ground
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. tear — from crying
  15. toast — bread
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. land — to come down
  20. capital — a city
  21. cue — a signal
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. chest — of your body
  24. capital — money

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