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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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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: saw · fall · face · wake · coach · hand · land · roll

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. roll — a cake
  3. saw — the tool
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. land — a country
  8. saw — the tool
  9. face — part of the head
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. wake — a trail
  13. land — to come down
  14. face — to point toward
  15. roll — a list
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. face — to confront
  19. fall — to drop
  20. hand — in cards
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. hand — help
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. fall — the season

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