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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: season · capital · fall · coach · object · wax · dip · prune

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. season — in sport
  3. wax — to grow
  4. capital — a city
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. fall — to drop
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. fall — the season
  12. prune — to trim
  13. fall — to drop
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. dip — to sink
  16. season — of the year
  17. object — a thing
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. prune — to trim
  20. capital — money
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. object — an aim
  23. object — to protest
  24. coach — a trainer

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