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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: hand · last · pitcher · degree · bat · cap · chest · cabinet

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. last — to go on
  5. cap — a hat
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. degree — an amount
  8. hand — help
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. cap — of ice
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. chest — of your body
  14. last — finally
  15. hand — in cards
  16. degree — from a university
  17. degree — temperature
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. last — final
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cap — a lid
  23. bat — in an idiom
  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