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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: fork · kid · content · band · rule · ground · toast · saw

  1. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — a drink to someone
  2. saw — the tool
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. fork — in a road
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. content — the amount
  8. rule — government
  9. content — happy
  10. saw — past of 'see'
  11. rule — a law
  12. toast — bread
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. ground — a position
  15. ground — crushed
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. ground — the earth
  18. band — a ring
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. saw — the tool
  21. band — a music group
  22. kid — child
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. content — videos and posts

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