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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 · net · pitch · clip · band · fall · club · wave

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. capital — money
  3. net — after costs
  4. band — a ring
  5. net — in sport
  6. net — for catching
  7. club — a group
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. capital — a city
  10. band — a music group
  11. wave — with your hand
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. club — for dancing
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. fall — the season
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitch — a sales talk
  18. clip — to cut
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. club — for golf
  21. clip — for paper
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. pitch — completely
  24. fall — to drop

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