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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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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: temple · cold · rule · rest · swing · hand · net · bat

  1. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. net — for catching
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. rest — what's left
  5. cold — not warm
  6. hand — help
  7. swing — in golf
  8. net — after costs
  9. rule — a law
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. hand — in cards
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. bat — the animal
  17. swing — to play on
  18. rule — government
  19. rest — what's left
  20. rest — a break
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. cold — an illness
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. net — in sport

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