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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · date · foot · cold · capital · hand · bass · mark

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  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. cold — an illness
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. capital — money
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. bass — the fish
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bass — low music
  14. cold — not warm
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. capital — a city
  17. foot — a measure
  18. mark — a trace
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hand — in cards
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. mark — a grade
  23. hand — help
  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