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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. game — wild animals
  6. stem — to come from
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. land — a country
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — a match
  11. court — for sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. face — part of the head
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. face — to point toward
  17. court — of law
  18. land — to come down
  19. land — ground
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. pitch — completely
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stem — of a plant

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