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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 · face · temple · pitcher · fork · march · bat · row

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. face — to point toward
  4. march — the month
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. march — music
  8. fall — the season
  9. face — to confront
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. fork — in a road
  12. march — the month
  13. fall — to drop
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. row — a line
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. temple — side of the head
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. face — part of the head
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. row — to paddle
  23. bat — the animal
  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