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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 120 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 · trunk · rest · content · wave · cold · court · kick

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. rest — a break
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. court — for sport
  10. kick — in football
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wave — of the sea
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. court — of a king
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. court — of law
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. rest — what's left
  20. content — happy
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. cold — an illness
  24. rest — what's left

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