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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: chip · coach · chest · wake · court · stock · scale · capital

  1. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. scale — in music
  2. court — of law
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. stock — goods
  6. stock — shares
  7. chest — a box
  8. wake — a trail
  9. court — of a king
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. scale — size or range
  12. court — for sport
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. chip — to eat
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. chest — of your body
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. chest — of your body
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. capital — money
  24. stock — a soup base

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