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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: court · cold · content · face · bank · board · last · wound

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ball is in your ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. cold — not warm
  3. court — of law
  4. content — happy
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. board — a committee
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. last — to go on
  9. court — of a king
  10. wound — an injury
  11. face — to point toward
  12. court — for sport
  13. face — part of the head
  14. bank — of a river
  15. content — the amount
  16. cold — an illness
  17. face — to confront
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bank — for money
  20. last — final
  21. board — to get on
  22. last — finally
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bank — for money

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