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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: rush · cap · bass · spring · hand · chip · band · chest

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. bass — low music
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. spring — a coil
  6. rush — hurry
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. band — a ring
  10. spring — of water
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. chip — for betting
  14. band — a music group
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bass — the fish
  17. cap — of ice
  18. spring — the season
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cap — a lid
  21. hand — help
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. hand — in cards
  24. chip — to eat

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