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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. The ________________ market has crashed.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — the fruit
  2. drill — army training
  3. drill — a practice
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. root — the cause
  7. march — music
  8. stock — shares
  9. clip — for paper
  10. stock — goods
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wind — moving air
  13. prune — to trim
  14. root — of a word
  15. content — happy
  16. clip — to cut
  17. drill — the tool
  18. root — of a plant
  19. clip — a video
  20. march — the month
  21. wind — moving air
  22. march — the month
  23. content — the amount
  24. wind — to turn a key

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