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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: capital · suit · pitch · net · ball · ground · fall · clip

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. ball — a great time
  3. fall — the season
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. suit — to fit
  6. capital — a city
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. pitch — completely
  9. clip — to cut
  10. net — in sport
  11. net — for catching
  12. suit — in cards
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. ground — crushed
  15. capital — money
  16. suit — clothes
  17. ball — a dance
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. net — after costs
  21. fall — to drop
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. capital — a big letter

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