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

Word bank: tear · wind · cell · root · rest · stock

  1. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The ________________ market has crashed.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. stock — shares
  3. tear — from crying
  4. tear — to rip
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. cell — a phone
  7. root — of a plant
  8. rest — what's left
  9. root — the cause
  10. stock — a soup base
  11. stock — goods
  12. root — of a word
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. tear — from crying
  15. wind — moving air
  16. cell — in biology
  17. rest — a break
  18. wind — moving air

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