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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: club · pop · chest · ground · game · patient · bat · temple

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. club — for dancing
  4. ground — crushed
  5. game — a match
  6. chest — a box
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. pop — to visit
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. pop — music
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. game — wild animals
  13. chest — of your body
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. chest — of your body
  19. club — a group
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — the earth
  22. club — for golf
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. bat — 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