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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 · band · face · season · chair · ball · pitcher · staff

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. chair — a leader
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. face — part of the head
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. season — of the year
  10. staff — a stick
  11. ball — a dance
  12. face — to confront
  13. cold — not warm
  14. band — a music group
  15. staff — employees
  16. face — to point toward
  17. staff — employees
  18. season — in sport
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. band — a ring
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. ball — a great time
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. chair — a professorship

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