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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.

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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: fork · chest · pop · bat · bark · spell · clip · root

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. pop — music
  3. root — of a plant
  4. chest — a box
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — in a road
  7. pop — soda
  8. clip — to cut
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. chest — of your body
  12. clip — for paper
  13. spell — letters
  14. bark — to shout
  15. root — the cause
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. spell — magic
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. root — of a word
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pop — to visit
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bark — a dog's sound

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