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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: hand · straw · nail · wind · kick · pound · last · object

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. pound — a weight
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. hand — in cards
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. object — to protest
  13. kick — in football
  14. last — finally
  15. object — a thing
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. object — an aim
  20. hand — help
  21. wind — moving air
  22. last — to go on
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. kick — with a leg

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