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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. mate — a partner
  3. can — a tin
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. board — a committee
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cold — an illness
  9. can — a tin
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. roll — a list
  12. cold — not warm
  13. can — to be able to
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. board — to get on
  17. swing — music
  18. mate — a friend
  19. swing — to play on
  20. band — a ring
  21. mate — to breed
  22. cell — in biology
  23. roll — a cake
  24. band — a rubber band

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