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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 116 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: bore · net · cell · coach · capital · object · spring · hand

  1. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — gave birth
  2. hand — help
  3. net — after costs
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — a city
  6. cell — in biology
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. object — to protest
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. object — a thing
  11. hand — in cards
  12. capital — money
  13. bore — to tire
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cell — a phone
  18. spring — of water
  19. object — an aim
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. spring — the season
  22. net — for catching
  23. net — in sport
  24. spring — a coil

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