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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: cold · firm · court · roll · board · mug · fall · band

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  5. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. roll — a cake
  3. board — a committee
  4. court — of law
  5. firm — steady
  6. roll — a list
  7. band — a music group
  8. mug — a face
  9. firm — a company
  10. firm — decided
  11. court — for sport
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. fall — to drop
  16. cold — not warm
  17. band — a ring
  18. board — to get on
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. cold — an illness
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mug — to rob
  24. court — of a king

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