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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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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: root · cell · file · racket · clip · straw · march · spell

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. spell — letters
  3. spell — a short time
  4. file — a tool
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. clip — for paper
  7. root — of a plant
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. march — music
  10. root — of a word
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. cell — a phone
  13. clip — to cut
  14. march — the month
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. cell — in biology
  18. file — a line of people
  19. clip — a video
  20. root — the cause
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a document
  23. spell — magic
  24. racket — for tennis

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