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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 · rest · chest · rash · season · bat · bowl · prune

  1. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. prune — to trim
  2. season — of the year
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. season — in sport
  5. bat — the animal
  6. rest — what's left
  7. chest — of your body
  8. prune — to trim
  9. rash — a series
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. chest — a box
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — a group
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rest — what's left
  23. club — for golf
  24. rest — a break

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