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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bass · chest · cold · rush · squash · temple · fan · toast

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. cold — not warm
  3. bass — low music
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. chest — of your body
  8. bass — the fish
  9. chest — a box
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. rush — hurry
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. toast — the most admired
  18. cold — an illness
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. squash — the sport
  24. squash — to crush

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