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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: march · clip · pitch · net · hand · wind · bass · face

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bass — the fish
  4. net — in sport
  5. clip — to cut
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. pitch — completely
  9. clip — a video
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. face — to point toward
  12. net — after costs
  13. clip — for paper
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. march — the month
  16. face — to confront
  17. face — part of the head
  18. net — for catching
  19. bass — low music
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. march — music
  22. march — the month
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. wind — moving air

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