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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 · wake · rest · hand · board · calf · ground

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. band — a ring
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. board — to get on
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. cold — an illness
  8. board — a committee
  9. wake — a trail
  10. board — a flat piece
  11. band — a music group
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cold — not warm
  14. hand — help
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. ground — the earth
  18. hand — in cards
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. ground — a position
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. rest — a break
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. wake — before a funeral

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