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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. root — of a plant
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. spell — magic
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. root — of a word
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. spell — letters
  9. bat — the animal
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. spell — a short time
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. content — the amount
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. kid — child
  16. root — the cause
  17. content — happy
  18. kid — to tease
  19. toast — a drink to someone
  20. rule — government
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. rule — a law

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