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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 116 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 · straw · row · bore · craft · net · object · wind

  1. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. object — to protest
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. cold — an illness
  6. net — in sport
  7. craft — boats
  8. net — after costs
  9. row — a line
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. cold — not warm
  15. net — for catching
  16. wind — moving air
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. row — to paddle
  19. bore — to drill
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. bore — to tire
  22. craft — a skill
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. object — a thing

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