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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.

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: root · clip · bark · fork · bat · fan · season · capital

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bat — the animal
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. bark — to shout
  8. clip — for paper
  9. season — of the year
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. root — of a word
  13. season — in sport
  14. capital — money
  15. root — the cause
  16. root — of a plant
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. capital — a city
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. fork — in a road
  24. bat — for baseball

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