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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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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: board · temple · cell · court · spring · bore · tube · cold

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. When was this ________________ built?
  3. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. I'll be taking the ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. board — to get on
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. cold — not warm
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. bore — to drill
  11. bore — to tire
  12. tube — a container
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. tube — the underground
  15. court — of law
  16. cell — a phone
  17. court — of a king
  18. cold — an illness
  19. spring — a coil
  20. cell — in biology
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. court — for sport
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. bore — gave birth

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