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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: court · content · fan · capital · board · pitch · stock · last

  1. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  14. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of a king
  2. last — final
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. board — to get on
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. capital — money
  7. court — for sport
  8. content — happy
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. last — finally
  13. pitch — completely
  14. board — a committee
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. last — to go on
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. content — the amount
  21. capital — a city
  22. court — of law
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. content — videos and posts

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