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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 120 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: cabinet · cold · straw · staff · last · nail · kick · wind

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. staff — employees
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. last — finally
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. kick — in football
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — moving air
  14. last — to go on
  15. wind — moving air
  16. staff — a stick
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — an illness
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. staff — employees
  22. last — final
  23. nail — for a hammer
  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