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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: band · face · spring · wind · lie · cell · date · staff

  1. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. lie — an untruth
  3. spring — the season
  4. wind — moving air
  5. face — to point toward
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. band — a rubber band
  8. spring — of water
  9. cell — a phone
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. staff — employees
  12. face — to confront
  13. cell — in biology
  14. wind — moving air
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. band — a music group
  17. staff — employees
  18. lie — to recline
  19. face — part of the head
  20. date — the fruit
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. spring — a coil
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. band — a ring

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