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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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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: trunk · content · squash · race · hide · pound · arm · land

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. squash — the vegetable
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. race — a contest
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. land — to come down
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. content — the amount
  10. land — ground
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. race — the arms race
  13. pound — a weight
  14. squash — to crush
  15. race — humankind
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. squash — the sport
  21. content — happy
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. hide — animal 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