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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: content · saw · roll · wound · ground · mine · swing · toast

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. wound — an injury
  4. toast — bread
  5. ground — the earth
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. saw — the tool
  9. saw — past of 'see'
  10. roll — a list
  11. swing — music
  12. ground — a position
  13. mine — for digging
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. saw — the tool
  16. swing — to play on
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. swing — in golf
  20. content — happy
  21. ground — crushed
  22. content — the amount
  23. wound — an injury
  24. roll — a cake

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