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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cue · last · cold · hand · object · land · staff · wind

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  17. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. last — to go on
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — not warm
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wind — moving air
  7. last — final
  8. object — a thing
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. staff — a stick
  11. land — to come down
  12. wind — moving air
  13. land — ground
  14. object — an aim
  15. last — finally
  16. object — to protest
  17. cue — for pool
  18. staff — employees
  19. cue — a hint
  20. land — a country
  21. cue — a signal
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. staff — employees
  24. cold — the Cold War

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