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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 116 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 had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. kick — in football
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. cell — a phone
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. board — to get on
  8. board — a committee
  9. cell — in biology
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. band — a music group
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. face — to confront
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. face — part of the head
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. band — a ring
  21. face — to point toward
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. mine — for digging
  24. cold — not warm

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