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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: pop · wind · bat · track · face · game · racket · land

  1. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. face — to confront
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. bat — the animal
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. game — wild animals
  8. pop — music
  9. track — to keep track
  10. wind — moving air
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. track — a song
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. wind — moving air
  15. pop — to visit
  16. pop — soda
  17. game — a match
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. face — part of the head
  21. land — a country
  22. face — to point toward
  23. track — a path
  24. land — ground

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