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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: arm · bowl · wind · wake · fan · nail · cold · stand

  1. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. I can't ________________ this cold.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. stand — to bear
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. wind — moving air
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. cold — not warm
  13. bowl — a football final
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. wake — to stop sleeping
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cold — an illness

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