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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: hide · cold · file · season · mate · squash · snap · bark

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. mate — a friend
  4. mate — a partner
  5. mate — to breed
  6. season — in sport
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. cold — an illness
  9. file — a line of people
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. snap — to click
  14. season — of the year
  15. squash — to crush
  16. file — a document
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. file — a tool
  19. squash — the sport
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bark — of a tree
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cold — not warm
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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