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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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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 · bound · cold · stem · pit · clip · march · racket

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. clip — for paper
  3. march — the month
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. bound — certain
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. march — music
  8. clip — to cut
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bound — obliged
  11. march — the month
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. clip — a video
  14. stem — to come from
  15. cold — not warm
  16. root — the cause
  17. cold — an illness
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. stem — a stem cell
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. pit — in a race
  22. root — of a word
  23. root — of a plant
  24. bound — tied together

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