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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: rock · pound · field · spell · row · clip · straw · root

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. root — the cause
  3. spell — letters
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. clip — to cut
  6. root — of a plant
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rock — music
  9. row — to paddle
  10. clip — a video
  11. rock — a stone
  12. row — a line
  13. field — farmland
  14. root — of a word
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. spell — magic
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. rock — to move gently
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. spell — a short time
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. field — for sport
  24. straw — a straw man

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