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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. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. root — of a word
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. root — of a plant
  4. stock — shares
  5. tube — the underground
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. nail — on a finger
  10. stock — goods
  11. cold — not warm
  12. tube — a container
  13. staff — employees
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. staff — a stick
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. root — the cause
  20. cold — an illness
  21. clip — to cut
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. foot — a measure
  24. staff — employees

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