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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: chest · bat · file · march · temple · pitcher · fan · net

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. march — the month
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. chest — a box
  6. net — after costs
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. chest — of your body
  11. march — music
  12. file — a document
  13. net — in sport
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. net — for catching
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. file — a tool
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. bat — the animal
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. fan — a supporter

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