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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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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: nail · wake · bowl · file · spell · wind · sharp · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. cold — not warm
  8. wind — moving air
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. spell — magic
  11. wind — moving air
  12. spell — a short time
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. file — a document
  15. sharp — clever
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. file — a tool
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. wake — a trail
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. spell — letters
  24. sharp — with an edge

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