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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: board · cell · cold · arm · mate · pound

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. board — to get on
  5. mate — to breed
  6. cell — in biology
  7. mate — a friend
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. cell — a phone
  11. cold — an illness
  12. pound — a weight
  13. board — a committee
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. 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