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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 116 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: present · cold · content · kid · leaves · squash · ground · nail

  1. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  22. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  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. leaves — of a tree
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ground — a position
  5. squash — the sport
  6. content — the amount
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. ground — the earth
  9. present — the time now
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. cold — an illness
  12. squash — to crush
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. kid — to tease
  15. content — happy
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. kid — child
  19. present — there
  20. ground — crushed
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. present — a gift
  23. content — videos and posts
  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