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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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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: bat · march · wound · temple · nail · roll · rule · kid

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. The ________________ went through the wall.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. wound — an injury
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. rule — government
  6. roll — a list
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. march — music
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. rule — a law
  14. kid — child
  15. kid — to tease
  16. march — the month
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. roll — a cake
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. bat — the animal
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. march — the month
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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