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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 120 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: court · snap · mouse · bat · last · stem · rest · wound

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. court — of a king
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. wound — an injury
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. court — of law
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. last — to go on
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. last — final
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. court — for sport
  16. last — finally
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. stem — to come from
  19. rest — what's left
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. bat — the animal
  22. rest — what's left
  23. wound — an injury
  24. rest — a break

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