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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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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: bound · degree · wake · fall · content · hide · mate · squash

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. content — happy
  3. fall — the season
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. mate — a friend
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. degree — temperature
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. squash — to crush
  11. wake — a trail
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. fall — to drop
  14. mate — a partner
  15. bound — tied together
  16. content — the amount
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. bound — obliged
  19. fall — to drop
  20. degree — an amount
  21. mate — to breed
  22. squash — the sport
  23. degree — from a university
  24. bound — certain

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