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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. bass — low music
  3. cap — of ice
  4. snap — to click
  5. wound — an injury
  6. stem — to come from
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. cap — a hat
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bass — the fish
  13. wound — an injury
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. game — wild animals
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. game — a match
  18. stem — of a plant

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