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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: cold · squash · fan · club · toast · fall · rest · cell

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  22. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. fall — to drop
  3. club — for dancing
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. rest — what's left
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. toast — bread
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. squash — to crush
  11. club — for golf
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cell — a phone
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. rest — what's left
  17. club — a group
  18. cell — in biology
  19. squash — the sport
  20. cold — an illness
  21. rest — a break
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — the season
  24. toast — the most admired

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