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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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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: fall · face · capital · net · swing · coach · snap · prune

  1. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. swing — to play on
  3. capital — money
  4. fall — the season
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. fall — to drop
  9. face — to confront
  10. face — part of the head
  11. prune — to trim
  12. swing — in golf
  13. swing — music
  14. net — for catching
  15. face — to point toward
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. capital — a city
  18. snap — to click
  19. net — after costs
  20. prune — to trim
  21. fall — to drop
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. net — in sport
  24. prune — the fruit

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