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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · ball · straw · cold · board · leaves · clip · can

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. ________________ you help me carry this box?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. cold — not warm
  3. can — a tin
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. can — a tin
  9. board — a committee
  10. clip — to cut
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. ball — a great time
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. face — to point toward
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. board — to get on
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. face — part of the head
  20. cold — an illness
  21. clip — a video
  22. face — to confront
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. can — to be able to

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