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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: kid · snap · squash · date · lean · land · hide · net

  1. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. net — after costs
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. land — to come down
  5. net — for catching
  6. squash — to crush
  7. date — the fruit
  8. kid — child
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. net — in sport
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. snap — to click
  13. kid — to tease
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. squash — the sport
  17. lean — thin
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. land — a country
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. land — ground
  23. lean — to bend
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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