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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: temple · face · straw · march · cap · last · board · rule

  1. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a committee
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. last — finally
  4. last — final
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. march — the month
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. cap — a lid
  9. face — part of the head
  10. rule — government
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. board — to get on
  13. last — to go on
  14. face — to confront
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. rule — a law
  17. march — music
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cap — of ice
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. march — the month
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. cap — a hat
  24. face — to point toward

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