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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: bass · face · scale · clip · snap · bore · bay · land

  1. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. My mare is ________________ in color.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — low music
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bass — the instrument
  4. land — ground
  5. clip — a video
  6. snap — to click
  7. land — to come down
  8. scale — in music
  9. face — part of the head
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bore — to tire
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. scale — size or range
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bass — the fish
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. bay — a horse colour
  20. land — a country
  21. bore — to drill
  22. face — to confront
  23. face — to point toward
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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