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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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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: rush · leaves · row · content · bat · kid · rest · toast

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. kid — to tease
  4. rush — hurry
  5. leaves — lets stay
  6. toast — bread
  7. content — the amount
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. content — happy
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. rest — a break
  15. rest — what's left
  16. bat — the animal
  17. row — a line
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. kid — child
  21. rest — what's left
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. toast — the most admired

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