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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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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: tear · pass · board · mate · bulb · wound · arm · cold

  1. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. pass — a permit
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. board — a committee
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. board — to get on
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pass — to spend time
  10. cold — not warm
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. mate — a partner
  13. bulb — for light
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mate — to breed
  17. bulb — for light
  18. cold — an illness
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wound — an injury
  21. tear — from crying
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. arm — part of the body

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