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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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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 · cold · band · cap · staff · drill · face · kick

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. cap — a hat
  3. face — to point toward
  4. board — a committee
  5. cap — of ice
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. staff — employees
  10. drill — a practice
  11. band — a music group
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. staff — a stick
  14. cold — an illness
  15. face — to confront
  16. face — part of the head
  17. board — to get on
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — not warm
  20. kick — in football
  21. band — a ring
  22. drill — army training
  23. staff — employees
  24. cap — a lid

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