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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 · march · rule · mine · bat · bore · band · fall

  1. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. fall — to drop
  5. band — a ring
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. bore — to drill
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. march — music
  11. face — part of the head
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. bore — to tire
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. march — the month
  17. rule — government
  18. band — a music group
  19. fall — the season
  20. face — to confront
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. face — to point toward
  23. march — the month
  24. fall — to drop

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