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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: chest · bear · temple · hand · rest · fall · bat · sharp

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. hand — in cards
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. fall — to drop
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. fall — to drop
  9. chest — of your body
  10. hand — help
  11. fall — the season
  12. bat — the animal
  13. rest — what's left
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. temple — side of the head
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. chest — a box
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. bear — the animal
  21. sharp — clever
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bear — the animal

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