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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 · bulb · snap · fall · band · pound · chair · game

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. bulb — for light
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bulb — for light
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. stem — to come from
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. snap — to click
  12. game — wild animals
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. band — a music group
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. fall — the season
  20. game — a match
  21. band — a ring
  22. pound — a weight
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. fall — to drop

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