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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 · spring · craft · board · mine · rule · lie · present

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  5. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. board — a committee
  3. lie — to recline
  4. craft — boats
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. rule — a law
  8. spring — the season
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. spring — a coil
  11. craft — a skill
  12. present — there
  13. cold — not warm
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. rule — government
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. cold — an illness
  19. mine — for digging
  20. spring — of water
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. board — to get on
  24. present — the time now

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