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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: fan · squash · cold · drill · court · cell · club · capital

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Can you turn the ________________ on?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. court — of a king
  3. squash — the sport
  4. club — for dancing
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cell — in biology
  9. drill — army training
  10. club — a group
  11. drill — a practice
  12. cold — not warm
  13. capital — a city
  14. court — of law
  15. cold — an illness
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. court — for sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. capital — money
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. club — for golf
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. drill — the tool
  24. fan — to cool the air

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