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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The tickets are free of ________________.
  15. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — a series
  2. kick — in football
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. kid — child
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. clip — for paper
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. clip — to cut
  9. kid — to tease
  10. clip — a video
  11. swing — to play on
  12. charge — in control
  13. spring — the season
  14. charge — a price
  15. swing — in golf
  16. shower — to wash
  17. swing — music
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. rash — hasty
  20. shower — rain
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. spring — of water
  23. charge — electricity
  24. spring — a coil

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