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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: wake · squash · stem · stick · content · capital · hide · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a city
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. squash — to crush
  5. content — happy
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wake — a trail
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. kid — child
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. capital — money
  21. content — the amount
  22. squash — the sport
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stem — to come from

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