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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: trunk · chest · season · net · face · track · temple · bat

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the meat?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. net — for catching
  4. chest — of your body
  5. season — to add flavour
  6. bat — the animal
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. face — to confront
  9. net — in sport
  10. season — of the year
  11. chest — a box
  12. track — to keep track
  13. face — to point toward
  14. net — after costs
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. track — a path
  19. track — a song
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. face — part of the head
  23. temple — a place of worship
  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