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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: band · net · race · last · present · wound · cabinet · wind

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. race — humankind
  3. last — final
  4. wind — moving air
  5. present — a gift
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. present — the time now
  8. race — the arms race
  9. band — a music group
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. race — a contest
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. last — to go on
  16. band — a ring
  17. net — in sport
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. last — finally
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. net — after costs
  24. net — for catching

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