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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 · date · sharp · snap · chip · kid · mine · squash

  1. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — to crush
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. chip — to eat
  4. snap — to click
  5. sharp — clever
  6. swing — music
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. squash — the sport
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. mine — for digging
  11. swing — in golf
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. kid — child
  17. date — the fruit
  18. chip — for betting
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. swing — to play on
  23. kid — to tease
  24. mine — belonging to me

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