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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: bass · cabinet · pop · face · pound · pit · clip · wound

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. clip — for paper
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bass — the fish
  5. pop — to visit
  6. face — to point toward
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. pit — a hole
  9. pound — a weight
  10. face — to confront
  11. bass — low music
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. clip — a video
  17. pop — soda
  18. clip — to cut
  19. face — part of the head
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pop — music
  22. pit — in a race
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cabinet — ministers

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