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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: sharp · shower · swing · root · cue · clip · pitch · capital

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. capital — money
  3. cue — a signal
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. root — of a plant
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. clip — a video
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. root — of a word
  10. swing — to play on
  11. pitch — completely
  12. capital — a city
  13. cue — for pool
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. cue — a hint
  19. root — the cause
  20. shower — to wash
  21. swing — in golf
  22. shower — rain
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. swing — 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