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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: tear · content · nail · rule · mine · toast · leaves · spell

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. rule — a law
  3. tear — from crying
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mine — for digging
  10. tear — from crying
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. content — happy
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. spell — letters
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. rule — government
  18. tear — to rip
  19. content — the amount
  20. spell — a short time
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. spell — magic
  24. leaves — lets stay

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