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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 116 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: fall · season · face · pop · court · pitcher · cell · race

  1. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — to confront
  2. face — part of the head
  3. race — humankind
  4. season — in sport
  5. race — a contest
  6. fall — to drop
  7. race — the arms race
  8. pop — music
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. face — to point toward
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. fall — the season
  14. pop — to visit
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. pop — soda
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. fall — to drop
  19. court — for sport
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. court — of law
  23. court — of a king
  24. season — of the year

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