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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: pitcher · cap · tear · kick · cell · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. kick — in football
  3. cap — a hat
  4. tear — from crying
  5. tear — to rip
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cap — a lid
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. cell — a phone
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. clip — to cut
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — in biology
  14. clip — a video
  15. cap — of ice
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. tear — from crying

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