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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: rule · game · pop · last · snap · cell · firm · stem

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. last — finally
  3. stem — to come from
  4. last — to go on
  5. firm — steady
  6. pop — to visit
  7. rule — government
  8. game — wild animals
  9. snap — to click
  10. firm — a company
  11. game — a match
  12. cell — in biology
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cell — a phone
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. pop — soda
  18. rule — to rule out
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. last — final
  21. pop — music
  22. rule — a law
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. cell — in a prison

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