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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: kick · fan · march · cold · pitcher · band · club · squash

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. march — music
  5. kick — in football
  6. band — a ring
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. squash — the sport
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. club — for golf
  15. band — a music group
  16. club — for dancing
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. cold — an illness
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. march — the month
  21. march — the month
  22. club — a group
  23. squash — to crush
  24. squash — the vegetable

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