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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: saw · tube · stock · cold · root · bat · can · wake

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. root — of a word
  3. stock — goods
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bat — the animal
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. wake — before a funeral
  9. wake — a trail
  10. can — a tin
  11. can — a tin
  12. can — to be able to
  13. root — the cause
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. saw — the tool
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. tube — the underground
  18. stock — a soup base
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. root — of a plant
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. stock — shares
  24. tube — a container

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