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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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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: club · spring · dip · bowl · kid · current · bat · pound

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. kid — child
  3. bowl — a dish
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. spring — of water
  10. club — for golf
  11. bat — the animal
  12. current — electric
  13. current — of water
  14. kid — to tease
  15. spring — a coil
  16. club — a group
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. current — happening now
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. pound — a weight
  23. club — for dancing
  24. dip — to sink

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