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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 116 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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · kick · straw · ball · cap · fine

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  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. clip — for paper
  2. ball — a great time
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fine — all right
  6. cap — a lid
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cap — of ice
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. kick — in football
  11. ball — a dance
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. cap — a hat
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. fine — high quality
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. fine — a penalty
  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