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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: swing · tear · cold · kick · clip · suit

  1. When will it ________________ you to start?
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. suit — to fit
  2. suit — in cards
  3. swing — music
  4. swing — in golf
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cold — an illness
  7. suit — clothes
  8. swing — to play on
  9. clip — for paper
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. kick — in football
  13. tear — from crying
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. clip — to cut
  16. tear — to rip
  17. clip — a video
  18. kick — a thrill

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