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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: bat · fall · pitch · face · rash · last · firm · track

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. fall — to drop
  3. firm — decided
  4. firm — steady
  5. rash — a series
  6. face — to confront
  7. last — finally
  8. firm — a company
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. face — to point toward
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. last — final
  13. last — to go on
  14. bat — the animal
  15. track — a path
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitch — completely
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. fall — the season
  22. track — a song
  23. track — to keep track
  24. pitch — a sports field

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