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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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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: clip · wake · land · trunk · pitch · mark · root · spring

  1. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. root — the cause
  2. land — ground
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. mark — a grade
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. wake — a trail
  8. pitch — completely
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. clip — to cut
  11. land — to come down
  12. root — of a plant
  13. spring — a coil
  14. root — of a word
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. clip — a video
  17. land — a country
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. spring — of water
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. spring — the season
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mark — a trace

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