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

Word bank: race · vault · content · mine · capital · file · bass · pound

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. mine — for digging
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. content — happy
  9. race — the arms race
  10. vault — a safe
  11. bass — the fish
  12. bass — low music
  13. content — the amount
  14. race — a contest
  15. race — humankind
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. vault — in gymnastics
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. pound — a weight

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