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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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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 · ground · kid · tube · content · prune · net · board

  1. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. tube — a container
  3. ground — a position
  4. squash — to crush
  5. board — to get on
  6. content — the amount
  7. kid — child
  8. board — a committee
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. tube — the underground
  11. squash — the sport
  12. content — happy
  13. prune — to trim
  14. net — in sport
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. net — for catching
  17. kid — to tease
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. ground — crushed
  20. prune — to trim
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. ground — the earth
  24. net — after costs

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