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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: date · cell · face · nail · board · wound · march · wake

  1. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. face — part of the head
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. face — to confront
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wake — a trail
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. board — to get on
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. date — the fruit
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. march — music
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. wound — an injury
  16. board — a committee
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. march — the month
  20. wound — an injury
  21. march — the month
  22. face — to point toward
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. board — a flat piece

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