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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: face · charge · band · prune · bat · kid · board · squash

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. board — to get on
  3. band — a music group
  4. board — a committee
  5. prune — to trim
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. face — part of the head
  8. bat — the animal
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. charge — electricity
  12. charge — in control
  13. face — to point toward
  14. charge — a price
  15. kid — to tease
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. squash — to crush
  18. face — to confront
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. squash — the vegetable
  21. band — a ring
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. prune — to trim
  24. kid — child

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