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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: coach · stock · pop · last · land · capital · wake · stem

  1. The ________________ market has crashed.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. stock — shares
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. pop — to visit
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. capital — money
  6. land — ground
  7. capital — a city
  8. pop — music
  9. last — finally
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. stem — to come from
  12. pop — soda
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. land — to come down
  16. last — to go on
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. last — final
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. wake — a trail
  22. land — a country
  23. stock — goods
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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