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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: swing · row · press · squash · race · coach · stem · season

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  22. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. press — to push
  5. squash — the sport
  6. swing — to play on
  7. swing — in golf
  8. swing — music
  9. season — in sport
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. race — humankind
  12. squash — to crush
  13. race — a contest
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. race — the arms race
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. row — to paddle
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. season — of the year
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. stem — to come from
  22. press — newspapers
  23. row — a line
  24. press — a publisher

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