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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: capital · field · pitcher · bound · prune · net · chair · coach

  1. Have you met the new head ________________?
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bound — certain
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — money
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. field — a subject
  12. bound — tied together
  13. bound — obliged
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. capital — a city
  16. field — for sport
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. net — after costs
  20. chair — a leader
  21. field — farmland
  22. prune — to trim
  23. net — in sport
  24. net — for catching

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