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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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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 · stick · net · squash · fork · arm

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. squash — to crush
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. net — for catching
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. cold — not warm
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. fork — in a road
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. net — in sport
  15. squash — the sport
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. net — after costs

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