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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: temple · scale · bark · file · sharp · bat · chip · march

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. chip — to eat
  3. file — a tool
  4. march — music
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bark — to shout
  9. march — the month
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. chip — for betting
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. march — the month
  18. bat — the animal
  19. scale — in music
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. sharp — clever
  23. scale — size or range
  24. bat — in an idiom

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