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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 116 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: coach · cold · race · capital · bass · bat · staff · chair

  1. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the instrument
  2. cold — an illness
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. race — the arms race
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. cold — not warm
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chair — a leader
  9. bass — the fish
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. race — a contest
  14. bass — low music
  15. race — humankind
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. capital — money
  18. staff — a stick
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. capital — a city
  21. staff — employees
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. staff — employees

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