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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: game · cell · snap · stem · temple · pop · net · wound

  1. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. snap — to click
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. game — a match
  6. net — for catching
  7. pop — to visit
  8. wound — an injury
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cell — in biology
  13. pop — soda
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. pop — music
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. stem — to come from
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. cell — a phone
  23. game — wild animals
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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