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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: arm · fan · pop · band · row · pitcher · cap · chest

  1. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. cap — of ice
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pop — to visit
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. pop — soda
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. cap — a hat
  12. cap — a lid
  13. chest — a box
  14. band — a music group
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. pop — music
  17. chest — of your body
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. band — a ring
  22. row — a line
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. row — to paddle

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