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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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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: mark · board · dip · band · cold · rule · wind · mine

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  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. mine — for digging
  2. wind — moving air
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. dip — to sink
  5. mark — a trace
  6. cold — an illness
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. band — a music group
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. mark — a grade
  17. cold — not warm
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. rule — a law
  21. board — to get on
  22. rule — government
  23. band — a ring
  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