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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: clip · coach · kid · kick · bore · rule

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. kid — to tease
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. clip — for paper
  5. kid — child
  6. coach — pulled by horses
  7. rule — government
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. rule — to rule out
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — to tire
  14. clip — to cut
  15. rule — a law
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. kick — in football
  18. clip — a video

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