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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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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: coach · ball · stock · last · game · content · face · hand

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. content — the amount
  3. face — part of the head
  4. face — to confront
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. content — happy
  7. game — a match
  8. last — final
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. face — to point toward
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. last — to go on
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. ball — a dance
  17. game — wild animals
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. hand — in cards
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. ball — a great time
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. hand — help

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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