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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: spring · mate · kick · perch · clip · rush · fall · club

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Have you found your soul ________________?
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. fall — the season
  3. mate — a partner
  4. clip — to cut
  5. spring — of water
  6. rush — hurry
  7. club — a group
  8. spring — the season
  9. mate — a friend
  10. spring — a coil
  11. club — for golf
  12. perch — for a bird
  13. clip — a video
  14. fall — to drop
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. club — for dancing
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. fall — to drop
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. perch — the fish
  21. mate — to breed
  22. kick — in football
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rush — to hurry

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