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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: bat · cold · stem · chip · jam · stand · game · wound

  1. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — of a plant
  2. wound — an injury
  3. stem — to come from
  4. jam — to spread on bread
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chip — for betting
  7. game — wild animals
  8. cold — not warm
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. bat — the animal
  14. jam — in traffic
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. cold — an illness
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. stand — to bear
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. jam — a tight spot
  24. stand — for spectators

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