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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: season · cold · temple · pop · bowl · club · squash · content

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. club — for golf
  4. squash — the sport
  5. pop — to visit
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. pop — music
  8. content — happy
  9. temple — side of the head
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. season — of the year
  12. content — the amount
  13. club — for dancing
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. cold — an illness
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. cold — not warm
  18. squash — to crush
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. club — a group
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. season — in sport
  24. temple — a place of worship

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