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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. face — to point toward
  3. can — a tin
  4. can — to be able to
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. leaves — to go away
  8. face — to confront
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — happy
  11. face — part of the head
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. capital — a city
  14. bass — low music
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a dance
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. ball — a great time
  20. capital — money
  21. clip — a video
  22. bass — the fish
  23. can — a tin
  24. leaves — lets stay

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