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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: fall · last · field · stem · face · rule · game · pitch

  1. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. last — final
  4. fall — the season
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — farmland
  7. field — for sport
  8. rule — a law
  9. face — to confront
  10. fall — to drop
  11. game — wild animals
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. rule — government
  15. game — a match
  16. stem — to come from
  17. stem — a stem cell
  18. face — to point toward
  19. last — to go on
  20. face — part of the head
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. last — finally
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. field — a subject

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