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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: mate · wind · scale · cold · straw · coach · cabinet · snap

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. scale — size or range
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. mate — a friend
  6. snap — to click
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. scale — in music
  13. mate — to breed
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. mate — a partner
  18. wind — moving air
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. wind — moving air
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. cold — an illness
  24. cold — not warm

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