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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 · board · net · tear · cell · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. tear — from crying
  3. board — to get on
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. tear — to rip
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cell — in biology
  9. clip — for paper
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. pitch — completely
  12. cell — a phone
  13. clip — a video
  14. net — for catching
  15. tear — from crying
  16. net — in sport
  17. board — a committee
  18. net — after costs

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