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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: cold · file · last · root · pop · stock · leaves · trunk

  1. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. stock — a soup base
  2. pop — to visit
  3. last — finally
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. cold — an illness
  6. file — a tool
  7. pop — music
  8. root — of a plant
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. stock — goods
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. cold — not warm
  13. trunk — of an elephant
  14. file — a line of people
  15. last — to go on
  16. pop — soda
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. root — of a word
  20. leaves — of a tree
  21. file — a document
  22. root — the cause
  23. stock — shares
  24. last — final

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