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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: content · scale · game · prune · face · coach · ground · rash

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. rash — hasty
  4. prune — to trim
  5. face — to point toward
  6. game — wild animals
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. scale — size or range
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. scale — for weighing
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. ground — a position
  15. content — the amount
  16. face — part of the head
  17. prune — to trim
  18. rash — a series
  19. ground — crushed
  20. coach — pulled by horses
  21. game — a match
  22. face — to confront
  23. scale — in music
  24. ground — the earth

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