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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: court · pass · fork · rule · mine · prune · coach · capital

  1. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — to rule out
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. capital — a city
  7. prune — to trim
  8. court — for sport
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. capital — money
  11. pass — a permit
  12. court — of law
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. court — of a king
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. mine — for digging
  18. rule — government
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fork — in a road
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. rule — a law

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