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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: club · fork · trunk · capital · toast · coach · stem · mine

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. club — for golf
  3. toast — the most admired
  4. toast — bread
  5. capital — a city
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — for digging
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. fork — in a road
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. capital — money
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. club — a group
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. club — for dancing
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. stem — to come from
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. capital — a big letter

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