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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. Have you settled on a ________________?
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. ball — a dance
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. board — to get on
  8. bank — for money
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. kick — in football
  13. date — the fruit
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. board — a committee
  16. bank — of a river
  17. bank — for money
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. chest — of your body
  21. row — a line
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — to paddle
  24. cold — an illness

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