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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: stem · pop · cell · game · wound · chest · tube · net

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. pop — to visit
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. game — wild animals
  5. chest — a box
  6. pop — music
  7. net — in sport
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. stem — to come from
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. wound — an injury
  12. game — a match
  13. net — after costs
  14. tube — a container
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. pop — soda
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. tube — the underground
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. chest — of your body
  22. net — for catching
  23. cell — in biology
  24. chest — of your body

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