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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 116 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 · branch · cold · can · fine · squash · rash · wake

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. squash — to crush
  3. cold — not warm
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. can — to be able to
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. can — a tin
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. squash — the sport
  11. rash — hasty
  12. rash — a series
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. cold — an illness
  15. fine — high quality
  16. fine — all right
  17. content — the amount
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. can — a tin
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. branch — a division
  24. wake — a trail

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