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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: pitcher · cap · shower · wake · press · net · cabinet · chest

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. chest — of your body
  7. net — in sport
  8. net — for catching
  9. press — a publisher
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. cap — a lid
  13. cap — of ice
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. net — after costs
  17. press — newspapers
  18. shower — to wash
  19. chest — a box
  20. wake — a trail
  21. shower — rain
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. press — to push

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