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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: ball · toast · mark · roll · stand · kid · mine · content

  1. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. roll — a cake
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. content — happy
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. ball — a dance
  7. mark — a grade
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. stand — to bear
  11. ball — a great time
  12. kid — child
  13. kid — to tease
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. content — the amount
  16. roll — a list
  17. mine — for digging
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. stand — on your feet
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. mark — a trace
  23. toast — the most admired
  24. mine — an explosive

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