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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: clip · wax · bass · staff · capital · cold · cabinet · straw

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. I play ________________ in a jazz band.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. staff — employees
  3. wax — for sculpting
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. staff — employees
  8. staff — a stick
  9. clip — for paper
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. bass — low music
  14. clip — a video
  15. wax — to grow
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. capital — a city
  19. cold — an illness
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. bass — the fish
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. bass — the instrument

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