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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: spring · bear · face · board · band · snap · hide · deal

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. face — to point toward
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. board — a committee
  5. face — to confront
  6. spring — a coil
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. board — to get on
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. spring — the season
  13. bear — the animal
  14. snap — to click
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. bear — the animal
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. band — a music group
  20. face — part of the head
  21. spring — of water
  22. deal — to handle
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  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