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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 120 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: wound · season · deal · temple · bat · last · net · content

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. last — to go on
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. deal — to handle
  10. net — in sport
  11. deal — an agreement
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. wound — an injury
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. content — the amount
  16. content — happy
  17. last — final
  18. season — in sport
  19. net — after costs
  20. wound — an injury
  21. net — for catching
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. last — finally

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