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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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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: kick · saw · swing · clip · cell · club

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. saw — the tool
  3. swing — music
  4. kick — in football
  5. saw — the tool
  6. clip — a video
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. club — for dancing
  10. cell — a phone
  11. club — for golf
  12. clip — to cut
  13. swing — in golf
  14. cell — in biology
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. swing — to play on
  18. club — a group

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