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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 116 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
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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: content · land · clip · bass · pound · fan

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. bass — low music
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. clip — for paper
  6. land — to come down
  7. content — happy
  8. land — ground
  9. land — a country
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. bass — the fish
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. content — the amount

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