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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: clip · land · roll · firm · ball · root · hand · stock

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. firm — steady
  3. clip — for paper
  4. firm — a company
  5. stock — goods
  6. roll — a list
  7. stock — shares
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. clip — a video
  10. root — of a plant
  11. ball — a great time
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. land — to come down
  15. hand — help
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. hand — in cards
  18. firm — decided
  19. root — of a word
  20. clip — to cut
  21. root — the cause
  22. ball — a dance
  23. land — a country
  24. roll — a cake

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