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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: face · mark · pitcher · capital · pit · fall · hand · rule

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. face — to confront
  3. fall — the season
  4. capital — a city
  5. hand — help
  6. mark — a grade
  7. face — part of the head
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. mark — a trace
  10. pit — a hole
  11. fall — to drop
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. fall — to drop
  14. hand — in cards
  15. pit — in a race
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. rule — government
  18. rule — a law
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. face — to point toward
  22. capital — money
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  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