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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: court · capital · stand · pitch · fine · wake · board · pop

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. capital — a city
  3. fine — all right
  4. court — of a king
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. capital — money
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. court — for sport
  9. wake — a trail
  10. pitch — a sports field
  11. stand — to bear
  12. court — of law
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. fine — high quality
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. board — to get on
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. pop — to visit
  23. pop — soda
  24. pop — music

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