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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. content — happy
  5. trunk — of a car
  6. lean — to bend
  7. squash — the sport
  8. ground — crushed
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. hand — in cards
  13. lean — thin
  14. content — the amount
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. mine — for digging
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. ground — the earth
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — help
  24. ground — a position

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