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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: cold · wind · rest · march · saw · stick · cabinet · rush

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. wind — moving air
  3. rush — hurry
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. march — music
  7. rest — a break
  8. march — the month
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. saw — the tool
  12. saw — the tool
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rest — what's left
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. march — the month
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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