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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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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: rest · bulb · ground · arm · drill · bay · row · cold

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  12. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. ground — a position
  3. bay — to keep at bay
  4. drill — army training
  5. ground — the earth
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. bulb — for light
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. cold — not warm
  11. bulb — of a plant
  12. row — a line
  13. drill — a practice
  14. rest — a break
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. ground — crushed
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rest — what's left
  19. rest — what's left
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. bulb — for light
  23. drill — the tool
  24. row — to paddle

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