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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: squash · cold · content · court · rush · scale · hide · band

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. band — a music group
  3. content — happy
  4. court — for sport
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. rush — hurry
  7. content — the amount
  8. squash — to crush
  9. band — a ring
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — not warm
  12. court — of law
  13. court — of a king
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. cold — an illness
  18. scale — in music
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. squash — the sport
  24. scale — size or range

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