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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: court · capital · tube · coach · ground · stem · squash · wax

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  4. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. squash — the sport
  3. stem — a stem cell
  4. stem — to come from
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. court — of law
  7. capital — a city
  8. ground — the earth
  9. tube — a container
  10. ground — a position
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. court — of a king
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. ground — crushed
  17. wax — to grow
  18. capital — money
  19. squash — to crush
  20. court — for sport
  21. tube — the underground
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. wax — in the ear

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