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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: root · bat · hand · content · land · march · fork · clip

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. root — of a plant
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. land — a country
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. land — to come down
  13. fork — in a road
  14. root — of a word
  15. root — the cause
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bat — the animal
  18. hand — help
  19. clip — for paper
  20. march — the month
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. land — ground
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bat — in an idiom

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