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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 120 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: wind · cold · cabinet · bound · saw · last · tear · rock

  1. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. bound — certain
  3. last — finally
  4. rock — a stone
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. cold — an illness
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. rock — music
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. cabinet — a cupboard
  13. bound — tied together
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. last — final
  21. wind — moving air
  22. bound — obliged
  23. wind — moving air
  24. last — to go on

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