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

Word bank: squash · hide · kid · trunk · cell · tear

  1. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a tree
  2. kid — child
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. squash — to crush
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. kid — to tease
  7. cell — a phone
  8. tear — from crying
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. tear — from crying
  11. cell — in biology
  12. tear — to rip
  13. trunk — of a car
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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