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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 · hand · chest · firm · saw · racket · squash · bowl

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. cold — not warm
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. chest — of your body
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. firm — a company
  9. hand — help
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. chest — a box
  12. squash — the sport
  13. firm — steady
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — of your body
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. squash — to crush
  19. hand — in cards
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. cold — an illness
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. saw — the tool
  24. bowl — a dish

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