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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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468
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 · present · cabinet · march · prune · bass · capital · chip

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. chest — of your body
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. present — a gift
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. present — there
  9. march — music
  10. capital — a city
  11. chip — for betting
  12. prune — to trim
  13. chip — to eat
  14. prune — to trim
  15. bass — the fish
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. present — the time now
  18. capital — money
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. chest — a box
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. chest — of your body
  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