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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: content · last · coach · capital · field · stem · clip · ball

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. field — a subject
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. last — to go on
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. last — finally
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. stem — to come from
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. ball — a dance
  15. field — for sport
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. clip — a video
  18. capital — a city
  19. field — farmland
  20. content — happy
  21. content — the amount
  22. last — final
  23. capital — money
  24. ball — a great time

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