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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: fan · clip · file · land · spell · stock · root · bat

  1. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — a supporter
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. file — a document
  4. root — of a plant
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. land — a country
  8. land — ground
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. stock — goods
  11. file — a line of people
  12. spell — magic
  13. root — the cause
  14. spell — letters
  15. file — a tool
  16. clip — a video
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. bat — the animal
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. stock — shares
  21. spell — a short time
  22. land — to come down
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. root — of a word

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