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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: pitch · sharp · capital · board · clip · chair · bulb · hand

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. hand — help
  3. board — a committee
  4. bulb — for light
  5. chair — a leader
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. pitch — completely
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. clip — for paper
  13. board — to get on
  14. hand — in cards
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. capital — a city
  17. bulb — for light
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. capital — money
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. sharp — exactly

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