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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: mark · bay · prune · chest · mine · coach · capital · bat

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bat — the animal
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mark — a trace
  10. mine — for digging
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. capital — a city
  13. prune — to trim
  14. chest — a box
  15. capital — money
  16. bay — a part of the sea
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. prune — to trim
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mark — a grade
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. bay — to keep at bay

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