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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: clip · cold · kick · last · suit · ball · spring · fan

  1. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — in cards
  2. cold — an illness
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spring — the season
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. last — to go on
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. suit — clothes
  10. clip — a video
  11. ball — a dance
  12. spring — of water
  13. suit — to fit
  14. ball — a great time
  15. clip — to cut
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. cold — not warm
  20. spring — a coil
  21. last — final
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. last — finally
  24. kick — in football

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