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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: key · last · suit · bass · capital · chair · straw · cold

  1. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. straw — dry grass
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chair — a leader
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. cold — an illness
  7. capital — money
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. suit — clothes
  10. key — for a lock
  11. last — final
  12. last — to go on
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bass — the fish
  16. key — in music
  17. last — finally
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. cold — not warm
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. bass — low music
  22. key — the most important part
  23. suit — to fit
  24. suit — in cards

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