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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: club · season · squash · cold · rush · cell · coach · rest

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cold — an illness
  5. squash — to crush
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cold — not warm
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. rush — hurry
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. season — in sport
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — what's left
  16. season — of the year
  17. rest — a break
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. club — a group
  21. club — for dancing
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. squash — the sport
  24. rush — to hurry

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