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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: rash · prune · stem · charge · bat · game · snap · shower

  1. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  15. Don't do anything ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. charge — electricity
  4. game — a match
  5. game — wild animals
  6. shower — to wash
  7. charge — a price
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. charge — in control
  10. rash — a series
  11. stem — to come from
  12. snap — to click
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. shower — rain
  15. rash — hasty
  16. prune — to trim
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. prune — to trim

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