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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: rush · mine · arm · bowl · race · firm · cold · row

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. firm — decided
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. rush — hurry
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. cold — an illness
  8. race — humankind
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. row — a line
  12. race — a contest
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. row — to paddle
  15. firm — a company
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. race — the arms race
  21. firm — steady
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. cold — the Cold War

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