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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.

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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: bulb · mine · wound · pound · capital · clip · pit · content

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The light ________________ burned out.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. content — the amount
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. clip — a video
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. content — happy
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. capital — money
  13. pound — a weight
  14. wound — an injury
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. pit — a hole
  17. capital — a city
  18. bulb — for light
  19. wound — an injury
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bulb — for light
  22. clip — for paper
  23. bulb — of a plant
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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