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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: capital · clip · bat · squash · mine · bulb · bass · wound

  1. The light ________________ burned out.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. clip — to cut
  4. wound — an injury
  5. capital — a city
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. clip — for paper
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — a video
  11. bass — low music
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. bulb — for light
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. squash — to crush
  22. squash — the sport
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. mine — for digging

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