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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: wake · land · kick · cold · stock · root · field · roll

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. We're on a ________________ here.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. roll — a cake
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. stock — shares
  5. root — the cause
  6. land — ground
  7. roll — on a roll
  8. kick — in football
  9. field — for sport
  10. wake — to stop sleeping
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wake — a trail
  13. root — of a plant
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. roll — a list
  16. stock — goods
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. land — a country
  19. root — of a word
  20. land — to come down
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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