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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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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: pitcher · face · saw · track · ground · branch · leaves · fall

  1. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. ground — a position
  3. leaves — to go away
  4. saw — the tool
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. fall — to drop
  8. face — to confront
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. ground — crushed
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. track — a song
  13. branch — a division
  14. face — to point toward
  15. fall — the season
  16. track — to keep track
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. face — part of the head
  19. ground — the earth
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. leaves — of a tree
  23. fall — to drop
  24. pitcher — a jug

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