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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: object · wound · bear · cabinet · sharp · wind · cold · race

  1. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. race — humankind
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cold — an illness
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wound — an injury
  7. object — an aim
  8. bear — the animal
  9. sharp — clever
  10. bear — the animal
  11. race — a contest
  12. object — to protest
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. race — the arms race
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. wound — an injury
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. object — a thing
  24. bear — to put up with

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