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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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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 · rest · fan · bore · race · chest · game · squash

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bore — to tire
  4. squash — to crush
  5. game — wild animals
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chest — of your body
  8. race — humankind
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bore — to drill
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. squash — the sport
  17. rest — a break
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. race — a contest
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — a match
  23. chest — a box
  24. arm — part of the body

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