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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: hand · mine · mark · tear · board · cold · kick · date

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. kick — in football
  6. mark — a grade
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. mine — for digging
  9. date — the fruit
  10. cold — an illness
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. board — to get on
  14. tear — from crying
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. tear — from crying
  17. hand — help
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. mark — a trace
  21. tear — to rip
  22. hand — in cards
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. board — a committee

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