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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: swing · chair · net · spring · pass · mine · stock · present

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. present — a gift
  3. mine — for digging
  4. chair — a leader
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. swing — in golf
  8. spring — a coil
  9. net — in sport
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. spring — of water
  13. stock — shares
  14. swing — to play on
  15. pass — a permit
  16. swing — music
  17. net — after costs
  18. present — there
  19. spring — the season
  20. net — for catching
  21. present — the time now
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. stock — goods
  24. stock — a soup base

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