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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 · rule · clip · wave · capital · spring · net · tear

  1. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sales talk
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spring — a coil
  4. rule — a law
  5. net — after costs
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. capital — a city
  8. tear — from crying
  9. clip — a video
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. net — for catching
  14. spring — the season
  15. pitch — completely
  16. rule — government
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. tear — from crying
  21. capital — money
  22. net — in sport
  23. spring — of water
  24. tear — to rip

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