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

Word bank: stem · bat · wound · tear · foot · snap · temple · game

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. stem — to come from
  6. game — a match
  7. foot — a measure
  8. tear — from crying
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. bat — the animal
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. snap — to click
  21. tear — to rip
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. stem — a stem cell

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