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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 116 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: mine · clip · file · cue · spring · bark · mate · rush

  1. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. mine — for digging
  3. cue — for pool
  4. bark — to shout
  5. file — a tool
  6. clip — to cut
  7. bark — of a tree
  8. mate — a partner
  9. spring — of water
  10. file — a line of people
  11. cue — a signal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. mate — to breed
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. file — a document
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. spring — a coil
  21. mate — a friend
  22. cue — a hint
  23. spring — the season
  24. clip — a video

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