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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 · key · rash · fall · land · bat · march · hand

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. face — part of the head
  4. land — to come down
  5. fall — to drop
  6. key — for a lock
  7. land — a country
  8. rash — hasty
  9. face — to confront
  10. bat — the animal
  11. face — to point toward
  12. land — ground
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. march — the month
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. key — the most important part
  19. fall — the season
  20. key — in music
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — help
  24. rash — a series

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