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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: coach · season · branch · squash · wound · mug · last · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. season — of the year
  3. branch — of a bank
  4. last — finally
  5. branch — of a tree
  6. squash — the sport
  7. mug — to rob
  8. season — in sport
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. wound — an injury
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. squash — to crush
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. branch — a division
  17. mug — a cup
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — final
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. mug — a face
  24. bat — the animal

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