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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: cold · cabinet · wind · wound · toast · pitcher · straw · coach

  1. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. straw — a straw man
  2. wind — moving air
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. wound — an injury
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. toast — bread
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. wound — an injury
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wind — moving air
  24. coach — a trainer

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