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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 · cell · bound · board · stem · squash · pitcher · cold

  1. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. bound — certain
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. board — a committee
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — an illness
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. board — to get on
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. cell — a phone
  14. bound — tied together
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. bound — obliged
  18. cold — not warm
  19. squash — to crush
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. stem — to come from
  22. cell — in biology
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — in a prison

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