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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: swing · drill · date · saw · rule · stand · snap · content

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. drill — a practice
  4. date — the fruit
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. rule — government
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. content — the amount
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. rule — a law
  12. drill — army training
  13. swing — music
  14. saw — the tool
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. saw — the tool
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. content — happy
  19. swing — to play on
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. stand — to bear
  22. drill — the tool
  23. swing — in golf
  24. date — on the calendar

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