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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: bat · can · cabinet · toast · fall · content · chest · squash

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. toast — bread
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. can — a tin
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. content — happy
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. content — the amount
  9. squash — the sport
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. cabinet — a cupboard
  14. chest — of your body
  15. fall — to drop
  16. squash — to crush
  17. can — to be able to
  18. chest — a box
  19. can — a tin
  20. toast — a drink to someone
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. content — videos and posts

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