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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: board · hand · capital · craft · can · net · bass · pitch

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  12. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. board — a flat piece
  3. board — to get on
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. net — for catching
  6. hand — in cards
  7. capital — a city
  8. net — in sport
  9. hand — help
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. craft — a handicraft
  12. craft — boats
  13. pitch — completely
  14. can — to be able to
  15. can — a tin
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bass — low music
  18. capital — money
  19. can — a tin
  20. bass — the fish
  21. craft — a skill
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. net — after costs
  24. pitch — a sports field

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