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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: sharp · file · season · bat · temple · fork · tube · chest

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — a container
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. bat — the animal
  5. file — a tool
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. sharp — clever
  8. season — in sport
  9. file — a line of people
  10. tube — the underground
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. season — of the year
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. chest — of your body
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. file — a document
  20. fork — in a road
  21. chest — a box
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. chest — of your body

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