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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: charge · shower · capital · pitcher · sharp · wake · court · pop

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. court — for sport
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. pop — to visit
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. charge — in control
  9. capital — money
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. sharp — clever
  12. charge — a price
  13. court — of a king
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. pop — soda
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. shower — rain
  18. pop — music
  19. court — of law
  20. charge — electricity
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wake — a trail
  24. shower — to wash

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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