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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: arm · wake · squash · row · mine · ground · rash · hand

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. hand — help
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. wake — a trail
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. squash — the sport
  9. row — to paddle
  10. rash — a series
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. ground — the earth
  13. rash — hasty
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. squash — to crush
  17. mine — for digging
  18. ground — a position
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. rash — on the skin
  23. row — a line
  24. ground — crushed

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