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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: arm · bulb · cold · dip · land · saw · row · court

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. row — a line
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. saw — the tool
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. land — to come down
  7. saw — the tool
  8. row — to paddle
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. court — of law
  13. dip — to sink
  14. land — ground
  15. court — of a king
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. cold — an illness
  19. bulb — for light
  20. dip — to dunk
  21. cold — not warm
  22. land — a country
  23. court — for sport
  24. bulb — for light

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