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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 120 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: bass · capital · band · firm · shower · straw · last · fork

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. last — final
  3. last — finally
  4. band — a ring
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bass — low music
  7. fork — in a road
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. firm — steady
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bass — the fish
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. capital — money
  16. band — a music group
  17. shower — rain
  18. firm — a company
  19. last — to go on
  20. capital — a city
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. straw — dry grass

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