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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: wind · kick · saw · tear · clip · present

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. saw — the tool
  4. wind — moving air
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. present — a gift
  7. saw — the tool
  8. present — the time now
  9. clip — for paper
  10. wind — moving air
  11. tear — from crying
  12. present — there
  13. clip — to cut
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. kick — in football
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. kick — with a leg

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