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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: wave · lie · arm · bore · cell · cold · board · kick

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. kick — in football
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. bore — to tire
  6. cell — a phone
  7. board — a committee
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. bore — gave birth
  13. board — to get on
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cell — in biology
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. cold — an illness
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. cold — not warm
  20. bore — to drill
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. wave — of the sea
  24. lie — an untruth

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