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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: face · content · bark · can · nail · ball · ground · game

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. content — happy
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. bark — a dog's sound
  5. ground — crushed
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. face — to confront
  8. ball — a great time
  9. ground — the earth
  10. bark — to shout
  11. ball — a dance
  12. can — a tin
  13. content — the amount
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. can — to be able to
  16. ground — a position
  17. face — part of the head
  18. face — to point toward
  19. can — a tin
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. nail — on a finger
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. game — wild animals

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