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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: shower · capital · spring · trunk · field · fork · coach · ruler

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Have you met the new head ________________?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. shower — to wash
  3. capital — money
  4. field — for sport
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. fork — in a road
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — a coil
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. field — farmland
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. fork — to eat with
  16. capital — a city
  17. ruler — a monarch
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. field — a subject
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. shower — rain
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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