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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: date · clip · kick · lean · can · spring · shower · ground

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. shower — to wash
  3. kick — in football
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. ground — the earth
  6. spring — a coil
  7. ground — a position
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — a video
  12. date — the fruit
  13. lean — thin
  14. lean — to bend
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. clip — for paper
  17. can — a tin
  18. shower — rain
  19. can — to be able to
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. clip — to cut
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. can — a tin

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