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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: ball · capital · chest · toast · coach · plane · root · squash

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. squash — the sport
  5. chest — of your body
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. root — of a word
  8. squash — to crush
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — money
  11. ball — a great time
  12. toast — bread
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. plane — a tool
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. capital — a city
  21. root — of a plant
  22. chest — of your body
  23. root — the cause
  24. chest — a box

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