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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: cabinet · spring · toast · rest · kid · pitch · hand · bass

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. bass — low music
  4. hand — help
  5. spring — of water
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. rest — a break
  8. spring — a coil
  9. kid — to tease
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. pitch — completely
  13. rest — what's left
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. bass — the fish
  17. hand — in cards
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. spring — the season
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — child
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. rest — what's left

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