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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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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: pitch · fall · lash · club · roll · perch · kid · spring

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  9. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. spring — the season
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. spring — of water
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. kid — to tease
  8. fall — the season
  9. fall — to drop
  10. fall — to drop
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. roll — a cake
  14. perch — the fish
  15. kid — child
  16. roll — a list
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. club — for dancing
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. pitch — completely
  21. club — a group
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. spring — a coil
  24. pitch — a sales talk

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