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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. cell — in biology
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. face — to point toward
  10. face — to confront
  11. face — part of the head
  12. season — of the year
  13. hand — help
  14. cold — an illness
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a ring
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. hand — in cards
  19. board — to get on
  20. wake — a trail
  21. board — a committee
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. cell — a phone

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