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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: chip · pop · coach · race · capital · cap · fork · land

  1. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. cap — of ice
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. fork — in a road
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. race — a contest
  10. land — a country
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. land — ground
  13. pop — to visit
  14. land — to come down
  15. pop — music
  16. cap — a lid
  17. pop — soda
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. chip — to eat
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. race — the arms race
  22. cap — a hat
  23. chip — for betting
  24. race — humankind

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