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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: chair · ground · kick · current · swing · bore · kid · spring

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. ground — crushed
  3. spring — of water
  4. chair — a leader
  5. bore — to drill
  6. kick — in football
  7. current — electric
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. swing — in golf
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. kid — to tease
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. current — happening now
  17. spring — the season
  18. kid — child
  19. swing — music
  20. ground — the earth
  21. swing — to play on
  22. spring — a coil
  23. ground — a position
  24. current — of water

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