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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 · chip · track

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

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. chest — of your body
  3. track — a song
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. rash — hasty
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. fall — to drop
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. game — a match
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. track — to keep track
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. fall — to drop
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chip — for betting
  19. rash — a series
  20. temple — side of the head
  21. game — wild animals
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. track — a path

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