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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: band · wax · capital · bark · bass · current · coach · straw

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bark — a dog's sound
  4. capital — money
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. band — a music group
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — low music
  9. current — electric
  10. current — of water
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. bark — to shout
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. capital — a city
  19. wax — to grow
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. current — happening now

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