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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: cell · lean · stock · march · pitcher · stick · root · clip

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ market has crashed.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  23. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  24. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. stock — shares
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. march — the month
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. root — the cause
  9. clip — a video
  10. root — of a word
  11. clip — to cut
  12. lean — to bend
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. march — the month
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stock — goods
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. march — music
  21. clip — for paper
  22. lean — thin
  23. root — of a plant
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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