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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 116 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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Word bank
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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: file · root · wind · stock · clip · cell

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  8. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. cell — in biology
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. root — the cause
  8. root — of a word
  9. file — a tool
  10. root — of a plant
  11. stock — shares
  12. wind — moving air
  13. file — a document
  14. stock — goods
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wind — moving air
  17. cell — a phone
  18. clip — for paper

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