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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. stem — to come from
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. last — to go on
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. last — final
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. mine — for digging
  18. last — finally
  19. capital — a city
  20. lie — to recline
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. fork — in a road
  23. capital — money
  24. mine — an explosive

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