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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 120 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: bound · chest · mine · present · lean · current · spell · file

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. file — a document
  3. spell — a short time
  4. lean — to bend
  5. lean — thin
  6. chest — of your body
  7. spell — letters
  8. present — a gift
  9. present — the time now
  10. spell — magic
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. bound — tied together
  13. file — a tool
  14. current — happening now
  15. chest — of your body
  16. mine — for digging
  17. chest — a box
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. current — electric
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. bound — certain
  22. current — of water
  23. file — a line of people
  24. bound — obliged

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