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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: kid · bat · ground · stem · craft · face · field · fall

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. face — to confront
  3. kid — child
  4. face — to point toward
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. field — farmland
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. fall — the season
  11. field — a subject
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — for sport
  14. kid — to tease
  15. ground — the earth
  16. face — part of the head
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. craft — a skill
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. craft — boats
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. stem — to come from
  24. ground — a position

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