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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: spring · chair · present · bat · current · bound · kid · spell

  1. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. current — of water
  3. bound — certain
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. spring — of water
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. current — electric
  10. present — the time now
  11. spring — the season
  12. bound — obliged
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. kid — to tease
  15. present — there
  16. spring — a coil
  17. spell — a short time
  18. present — a gift
  19. current — happening now
  20. bound — tied together
  21. bat — the animal
  22. spell — letters
  23. kid — child
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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