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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 120 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: face · game · fork · scale · kid · vault · content · bat

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. vault — a safe
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. game — wild animals
  6. face — to confront
  7. content — happy
  8. game — a match
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. face — to point toward
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. kid — child
  16. kid — to tease
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. fork — in a road
  19. face — part of the head
  20. scale — size or range
  21. scale — in music
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. bat — the animal

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