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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: content · fork · band · bass · press · charge · clip · pound

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the button?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  7. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The tickets are free of ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  24. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. press — to push
  3. clip — to cut
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. content — the amount
  6. charge — in control
  7. press — a publisher
  8. charge — electricity
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. bass — low music
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fork — in a road
  14. pound — a weight
  15. band — a ring
  16. charge — a price
  17. clip — for paper
  18. clip — a video
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. band — a music group
  23. press — newspapers
  24. bass — the fish

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