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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.

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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. stand — to bear
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. rash — a series
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. stock — goods
  7. root — of a word
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. stock — shares
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. game — a match
  14. mine — for digging
  15. rash — hasty
  16. clip — to cut
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. root — the cause
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. clip — a video
  22. root — of a plant
  23. clip — for paper
  24. trunk — of a car

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