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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: perch · kick · clip · tear · rule · present

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. present — a gift
  3. tear — from crying
  4. clip — to cut
  5. rule — government
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. perch — the fish
  8. tear — from crying
  9. present — there
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. kick — in football
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. clip — a video
  14. rule — a law
  15. tear — to rip
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. present — the time now

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