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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: date · kid · bore · clip · content · present · bass · mine

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. present — there
  4. bore — to drill
  5. present — the time now
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. bore — to tire
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — child
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. present — a gift
  12. clip — for paper
  13. date — the fruit
  14. content — happy
  15. bass — the fish
  16. kid — to tease
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. clip — to cut
  21. mine — for digging
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. content — the amount
  24. bass — low music

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