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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: root · sharp · pound · cold · clip · pop · stem · roll

  1. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  2. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  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. sharp — with an edge
  2. stem — a stem cell
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. roll — a list
  5. cold — an illness
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. root — of a plant
  8. sharp — clever
  9. pound — a weight
  10. pop — to visit
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. roll — a cake
  13. pop — soda
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cold — not warm
  16. clip — a video
  17. pop — music
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. stem — to come from
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. root — of a word
  23. clip — for paper
  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