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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: chair · bowl · pound · swing · spring · ground · drill · rash

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. spring — of water
  4. swing — in golf
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. ground — crushed
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. ground — the earth
  10. pound — a weight
  11. ground — a position
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. swing — music
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. swing — to play on
  19. rash — a series
  20. drill — the tool
  21. drill — army training
  22. drill — a practice
  23. bowl — a dish
  24. spring — the season

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