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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: firm · bay · game · cold · squash · foot · bat · bear

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. foot — a measure
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. cold — not warm
  7. firm — steady
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bay — a part of the sea
  10. game — a match
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. squash — the sport
  14. cold — an illness
  15. firm — decided
  16. bear — the animal
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bear — the animal
  21. firm — a company
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. bat — the animal
  24. game — wild animals

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