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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: stem · cell · sharp · shower · craft · snap · wound · march

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. wound — an injury
  4. march — music
  5. craft — a skill
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. march — the month
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. craft — boats
  11. snap — to click
  12. shower — rain
  13. shower — to wash
  14. cell — a phone
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. sharp — clever
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. cell — in biology
  23. march — the month
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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