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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 · current · foot · wind · pitch · stock · branch · capital

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — moving air
  3. stock — shares
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. foot — part of the body
  8. capital — money
  9. stock — goods
  10. current — happening now
  11. current — electric
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. current — of water
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. foot — a measure
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. branch — a division
  20. pitch — completely
  21. capital — a city
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. root — the cause

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