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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: hide · squash · land · scale · wind · trunk · rash · snap

  1. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — for weighing
  2. squash — to crush
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. rash — hasty
  5. scale — in music
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. wind — moving air
  9. scale — size or range
  10. squash — the sport
  11. snap — to click
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. land — to come down
  15. land — ground
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. land — a country
  20. wind — moving air
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. rash — a series
  24. rash — on the skin

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