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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: tube · stock · chair · race · root · cell · spell · ground

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. ground — a position
  3. ground — crushed
  4. race — the arms race
  5. stock — shares
  6. chair — a leader
  7. chair — to sit on
  8. root — the cause
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. tube — a container
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. stock — goods
  13. race — a contest
  14. ground — the earth
  15. cell — a phone
  16. root — of a word
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. spell — magic
  19. tube — the underground
  20. cell — in biology
  21. spell — a short time
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. root — of a plant
  24. race — humankind

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