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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: trunk · bark · drill · lash · fan · net · capital · bowl

  1. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. net — for catching
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. net — after costs
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. bark — to shout
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. net — in sport
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. drill — a practice
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. capital — money
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. drill — the tool
  23. drill — army training
  24. capital — a city

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