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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: arm · cold · ruler · prune · squash · mate · wind · band

  1. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. squash — the sport
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. band — a music group
  6. cold — not warm
  7. prune — to trim
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. prune — to trim
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. cold — an illness
  15. mate — a partner
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. mate — to breed
  18. squash — to crush
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. mate — a friend
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. band — a ring
  23. wind — moving air
  24. ruler — for measuring

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