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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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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: tube · capital · jam · hand · rule · land · pop · bass

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  23. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. land — a country
  3. bass — low music
  4. jam — in traffic
  5. pop — music
  6. capital — a city
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. tube — a container
  10. land — ground
  11. land — to come down
  12. capital — money
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. pop — to visit
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. pop — soda
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. bass — the fish
  21. rule — government
  22. jam — to spread on bread
  23. rule — a law
  24. hand — part of the body

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