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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 · spell · bat · cell · board · rush · fan · cold

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. rush — hurry
  8. cell — a phone
  9. bat — the animal
  10. board — to get on
  11. cold — not warm
  12. squash — the sport
  13. squash — to crush
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. cell — in biology
  17. spell — letters
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. board — a committee
  20. cold — an illness
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. spell — magic
  24. spell — a short time

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