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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: chest · pitch · straw · shower · ground · cabinet · key · calf

  1. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — the earth
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. ground — a position
  4. key — for a lock
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. key — the most important part
  7. shower — rain
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. chest — of your body
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. chest — of your body
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. key — in music
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. shower — a meteor shower
  20. shower — to wash
  21. chest — a box
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. ground — crushed
  24. pitch — completely

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