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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: squash · wake · season · coach · degree · branch · chest · cell

  1. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. squash — the sport
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. season — in sport
  7. squash — to crush
  8. cell — in biology
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. degree — an amount
  14. wake — a trail
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. degree — temperature
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. cell — a phone
  20. season — of the year
  21. branch — a division
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. degree — from a university

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