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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · land · content · date · suit · wound · swing · kick

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. When will it ________________ you to start?
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. land — to come down
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. game — a match
  5. content — happy
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. swing — music
  8. game — wild animals
  9. suit — to fit
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. wound — an injury
  12. land — a country
  13. suit — in cards
  14. kick — in football
  15. swing — in golf
  16. content — the amount
  17. swing — to play on
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. wound — an injury
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. land — ground
  23. date — the fruit
  24. suit — clothes

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