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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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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 · arm · rest · firm · ground · last · squash · bowl

  1. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — an illness
  5. ground — a position
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. last — final
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. last — to go on
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. rest — what's left
  12. ground — the earth
  13. rest — a break
  14. last — finally
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. firm — steady
  19. squash — the sport
  20. rest — what's left
  21. bowl — a football final
  22. ground — crushed
  23. firm — decided
  24. firm — a company

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