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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 116 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: cabinet · ball · cold · rush · spring · wax · wind · hand

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. wax — in the ear
  4. rush — hurry
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. hand — help
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. hand — in cards
  11. ball — a great time
  12. spring — of water
  13. wax — to grow
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. ball — a dance
  18. cold — not warm
  19. wind — moving air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spring — the season
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. cabinet — ministers

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