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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: plane · coach · wake · net · capital · prune · chair · hand

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. Have you met the new head ________________?
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. prune — to trim
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. hand — in cards
  7. net — in sport
  8. chair — a leader
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. hand — help
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. capital — money
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. wake — a trail
  19. prune — to trim
  20. plane — a tool
  21. net — after costs
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. net — for catching

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