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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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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: mate · cell · ground · bowl · capital · coach

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. mate — to breed
  4. ground — the earth
  5. cell — a phone
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. cell — in biology
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. capital — money
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. ground — crushed
  12. mate — a partner
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. ground — a position
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. capital — a city
  18. mate — a friend

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