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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: face · board · cold · chest · mate · rush · kick · pass

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. pass — a permit
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — to breed
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. face — to point toward
  9. board — a committee
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. mate — a partner
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. cold — not warm
  15. face — to confront
  16. mate — a friend
  17. board — to get on
  18. chest — a box
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. kick — in football
  21. pass — to spend time
  22. face — part of the head
  23. rush — hurry
  24. kick — a thrill

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