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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: temple · chest · game · band · wound · ground · squash · stem

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. When was this ________________ built?
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. squash — the sport
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. ground — crushed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. band — a ring
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. game — wild animals
  12. ground — a position
  13. wound — an injury
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. stem — to come from
  17. band — a music group
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. squash — to crush
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wound — an injury
  24. chest — of your body

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