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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. stem — to come from
  3. shower — rain
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. snap — to click
  6. rash — hasty
  7. land — to come down
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. bat — the animal
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. wound — an injury
  13. stem — of a plant
  14. land — ground
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. land — a country
  18. shower — to wash
  19. rush — hurry
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. rash — a series
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. wound — an injury

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