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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 116 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: wound · kick · cell · stem · row · snap · fan · safe

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. snap — to click
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. stem — to come from
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. row — to paddle
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. safe — a strongbox
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. kick — in football
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. row — a line
  19. cell — a phone
  20. wound — an injury
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. fan — a supporter

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