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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: cold · rush · kid · bass · spell · nail · pitch · cabinet

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. spell — magic
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. rush — hurry
  7. spell — letters
  8. kid — child
  9. spell — a short time
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. cold — not warm
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. cold — an illness
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. kid — to tease
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. pitch — completely
  24. cabinet — ministers

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