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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: chip · current · spring · cold · bark · press · pitcher · bat

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. spring — a coil
  3. spring — the season
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. bat — the animal
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. current — electric
  10. press — to push
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chip — to eat
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. current — of water
  17. press — a publisher
  18. press — newspapers
  19. spring — of water
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. current — happening now
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chip — for betting

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