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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: bowl · kid · rule · last · toast · content

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  7. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. toast — bread
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. bowl — to roll
  7. toast — a drink to someone
  8. kid — to tease
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. kid — child
  12. rule — a law
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. rule — government
  16. last — to go on
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. last — finally

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