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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 120 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The tickets are free of ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. charge — a price
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. kick — in football
  6. chair — a leader
  7. charge — electricity
  8. cold — not warm
  9. deal — to handle
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. bark — to shout
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. clip — a video
  21. swing — music
  22. swing — to play on
  23. charge — in control
  24. swing — in golf

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