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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: mate · ground · drill · arm · capital · coach · stock · perch

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. capital — a city
  4. mate — a friend
  5. capital — money
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. drill — a practice
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. ground — crushed
  11. drill — army training
  12. stock — shares
  13. stock — goods
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. perch — the fish
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. ground — a position
  19. mate — a partner
  20. drill — the tool
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. mate — to breed
  24. ground — the earth

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