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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: squash · foot · content · saw · hide · cabinet · sharp · date

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Have you settled on a ________________?
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. squash — to crush
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. foot — the bottom
  6. saw — the tool
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. content — happy
  11. squash — the sport
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. content — the amount
  14. saw — the tool
  15. date — the fruit
  16. foot — a measure
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. saw — past of 'see'

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