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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · nail · object · field · content · hide · squash · chest

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. chest — of your body
  3. field — for sport
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. chest — of your body
  6. content — happy
  7. object — an aim
  8. field — farmland
  9. squash — the sport
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. field — a subject
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. object — to protest
  16. object — a thing
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. content — the amount
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. squash — to crush
  24. chest — a box

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