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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
468
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: game · fork · spring · bear · pitcher · clip · stock · kick

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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. spring — the season
  2. clip — a video
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. bear — the animal
  10. stock — goods
  11. fork — in a road
  12. stock — shares
  13. game — wild animals
  14. bear — the animal
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. game — a match
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. spring — of water
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. spring — a coil
  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