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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: perch · season · branch · pop · fan · chair · squash · cold

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. branch — a division
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chair — a leader
  10. squash — the sport
  11. pop — music
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. pop — to visit
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. squash — to crush
  17. squash — the vegetable
  18. pop — soda
  19. season — in sport
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. season — of the year
  24. perch — the fish

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