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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: swing · date · content · branch · squash · face · land · bat

  1. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. When are we going to ________________?
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. face — to confront
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. content — the amount
  6. date — the fruit
  7. content — happy
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. face — to point toward
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — a division
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. land — to come down
  14. swing — music
  15. bat — the animal
  16. face — part of the head
  17. squash — the sport
  18. land — a country
  19. swing — to play on
  20. squash — to crush
  21. land — ground
  22. swing — in golf
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. squash — the vegetable

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