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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. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. field — farmland
  4. wind — moving air
  5. file — a line of people
  6. stock — shares
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. root — of a plant
  9. file — a document
  10. stock — goods
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. row — to paddle
  14. field — for sport
  15. sharp — clever
  16. field — a subject
  17. file — a tool
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wind — moving air
  20. row — a line
  21. perch — the fish
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. root — of a word

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