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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: fall · bat · chest · rash · temple · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. fall — the season
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. game — wild animals
  6. fall — to drop
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bat — the animal
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. fall — to drop
  11. rash — a series
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. chest — of your body
  14. rash — hasty
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chest — a box
  18. game — a kind of play

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