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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: suit · root · wound · kick · tear · clip · cold · pop

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. When will it ________________ you to start?
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. root — of a plant
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — an illness
  5. cold — not warm
  6. pop — to visit
  7. tear — from crying
  8. clip — a video
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kick — in football
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. root — of a word
  14. tear — to rip
  15. root — the cause
  16. pop — soda
  17. clip — to cut
  18. wound — an injury
  19. suit — clothes
  20. suit — to fit
  21. pop — music
  22. suit — in cards
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. wound — an injury

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