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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: ground · bound · current · kick · stock · swing · cold · present

  1. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. stock — a soup base
  3. swing — music
  4. present — the time now
  5. current — of water
  6. bound — certain
  7. ground — crushed
  8. bound — obliged
  9. bound — tied together
  10. ground — a position
  11. current — happening now
  12. current — electric
  13. cold — not warm
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. ground — the earth
  17. swing — in golf
  18. stock — goods
  19. swing — to play on
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. present — there
  22. cold — an illness
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. stock — shares

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