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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: pit · cold · wax · row · net · bound · wind · nail

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. net — for catching
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. net — in sport
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. net — after costs
  8. bound — certain
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. cold — not warm
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. row — to paddle
  13. pit — in a race
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bound — tied together
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. bound — obliged
  22. pit — a hole
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. row — a line

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