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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: net · straw · date · stem · stock · face · march · root

  1. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  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. march — the month
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. root — of a plant
  5. date — the fruit
  6. stock — goods
  7. net — after costs
  8. net — for catching
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. net — in sport
  11. face — part of the head
  12. face — to point toward
  13. stock — shares
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. march — music
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stem — to come from
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. march — the month
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. face — to confront
  23. root — of a word
  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