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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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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: deal · patient · swing · chair · face · squash · club · content

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. swing — in golf
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. content — happy
  5. chair — a leader
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. face — to confront
  8. swing — to play on
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to point toward
  11. squash — to crush
  12. club — a group
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. squash — the sport
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. deal — to handle
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. club — for golf
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. club — for dancing
  22. swing — music
  23. chair — to sit on
  24. chair — a professorship

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