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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: band · ground · cell · kick · mine · board · tear · fall

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. ground — the earth
  4. fall — to drop
  5. tear — from crying
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. tear — to rip
  8. board — a committee
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. band — a ring
  13. board — a flat piece
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fall — to drop
  16. ground — a position
  17. fall — the season
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — a phone
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. mine — for digging
  22. kick — in football
  23. board — to get on
  24. band — a music group

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