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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: hide · land · stick · kid · squash · snap · content · wave

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. 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. snap — to speak sharply
  2. land — a country
  3. squash — to crush
  4. content — happy
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. kid — to tease
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. squash — the sport
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. land — to come down
  15. snap — to click
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. content — the amount
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. hide — to keep secret
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. kid — child
  22. land — ground
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. 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