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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: mate · date · swing · lean · wound · wind · squash · content

  1. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. Have you found your soul ________________?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. date — the fruit
  2. swing — to play on
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. swing — in golf
  5. wind — moving air
  6. squash — the sport
  7. lean — thin
  8. wound — an injury
  9. mate — to breed
  10. content — happy
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mate — a friend
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. content — the amount
  16. mate — a partner
  17. wind — moving air
  18. squash — to crush
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. swing — music
  22. lean — to bend
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. lean — to rest against

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