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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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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: mark · bass · pound · content · clip · band · mate · file

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. mate — to breed
  3. content — happy
  4. band — a ring
  5. file — a tool
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pound — a weight
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bass — low music
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. mark — a grade
  13. content — the amount
  14. band — a music group
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. file — a line of people
  17. file — a document
  18. mate — a partner
  19. clip — to cut
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. clip — a video
  22. mark — a trace
  23. mark — to pay attention
  24. content — videos and posts

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