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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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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: ball · band · board · pitcher · straw · cold · net · cabinet

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. cold — not warm
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. board — a flat piece
  6. cold — an illness
  7. board — a committee
  8. band — a music group
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. band — a ring
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. net — in sport
  15. net — for catching
  16. ball — a great time
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. ball — a dance
  23. board — to get on
  24. straw — a straw man

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