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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 · leaves · content · clip · race · land · spring · press

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. race — humankind
  3. bass — low music
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. press — a publisher
  6. bass — the fish
  7. clip — a video
  8. spring — of water
  9. press — newspapers
  10. land — to come down
  11. content — the amount
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. clip — to cut
  14. spring — a coil
  15. race — the arms race
  16. land — ground
  17. spring — the season
  18. race — a contest
  19. land — a country
  20. content — happy
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. press — to push
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. leaves — of a tree

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