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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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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: content · perch · pop · land · squash · bound · ground · hide

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. I'd like to play a game of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. pop — to visit
  3. bound — tied together
  4. squash — to crush
  5. pop — music
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. ground — crushed
  8. land — ground
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — the fish
  12. land — a country
  13. land — to come down
  14. bound — obliged
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. bound — certain
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. pop — soda
  21. ground — a position
  22. content — happy
  23. ground — the earth
  24. squash — the sport

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