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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: firm · swing · content · date · pitcher · kick · current · rash

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. He is an ace ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. pitcher — in baseball
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. current — of water
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. current — happening now
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. rash — a series
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. firm — a company
  11. firm — decided
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. rash — hasty
  14. swing — to play on
  15. date — the fruit
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. kick — in football
  19. firm — steady
  20. swing — music
  21. current — electric
  22. content — the amount
  23. kick — with a leg
  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