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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: degree · land · squash · mouse · chest · stand · kid · row

  1. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the vegetable
  2. squash — to crush
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. kid — child
  6. chest — of your body
  7. land — a country
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. land — ground
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. kid — to tease
  14. degree — from a university
  15. squash — the sport
  16. row — to paddle
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. land — to come down
  20. degree — an amount
  21. stand — to bear
  22. degree — temperature
  23. row — a line
  24. chest — a box

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