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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: mate · board · ground · cold · bound · pop · band · stand

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. You don't need to ________________ round.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. board — a committee
  3. ground — the earth
  4. band — a music group
  5. bound — obliged
  6. mate — a partner
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. pop — music
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. band — a ring
  12. ground — a position
  13. pop — soda
  14. bound — certain
  15. bound — tied together
  16. stand — to bear
  17. pop — to visit
  18. ground — crushed
  19. cold — not warm
  20. mate — a friend
  21. board — to get on
  22. mate — to breed
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. cold — the Cold War

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