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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.

Make a worksheet

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
468
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 · land · pit · clip · capital · bass · jam · face

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. face — to point toward
  3. content — happy
  4. capital — money
  5. pit — in a race
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. land — to come down
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. face — part of the head
  10. jam — a tight spot
  11. bass — the fish
  12. land — ground
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. face — to confront
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. bass — low music
  17. clip — for paper
  18. content — the amount
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. clip — to cut
  21. pit — a hole
  22. land — a country
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. clip — a video

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