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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: last · content · drill · snap · cold · roll · stand · toast

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. last — finally
  3. cold — an illness
  4. last — to go on
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. content — happy
  7. snap — to click
  8. toast — a drink to someone
  9. drill — a practice
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. stand — for spectators
  12. toast — bread
  13. last — final
  14. roll — a cake
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. drill — army training
  17. drill — the tool
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. content — the amount
  20. roll — a list
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. stand — to bear
  24. roll — on a roll

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