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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
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: clip · content · club · ball · bark · stand · capital · face

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. clip — for paper
  3. club — a group
  4. clip — a video
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. face — part of the head
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. club — for dancing
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. capital — a city
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. club — for golf
  14. ball — a great time
  15. bark — to shout
  16. clip — to cut
  17. content — happy
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. content — the amount
  20. ball — a dance
  21. face — to point toward
  22. stand — to bear
  23. capital — money
  24. stand — for spectators

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