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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: ground · cold · snap · temple · shower · stem · key · court

  1. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  4. When was this ________________ built?
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. stem — a stem cell
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. court — of a king
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. stem — to come from
  6. ground — the earth
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. cold — not warm
  11. stem — of a plant
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. court — for sport
  14. ground — crushed
  15. cold — an illness
  16. key — for a lock
  17. court — of law
  18. key — the most important part
  19. key — in music
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. ground — a position
  22. shower — to wash
  23. shower — rain
  24. snap — to click

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