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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 120 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: cue · fall · clip · stick · tear · rash · kid · drill

  1. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  22. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. tear — from crying
  4. clip — for paper
  5. kid — child
  6. rash — a series
  7. kid — to tease
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. fall — to drop
  10. tear — from crying
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. clip — to cut
  13. cue — a hint
  14. tear — to rip
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — a practice
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. fall — to drop
  19. clip — a video
  20. drill — army training
  21. cue — for pool
  22. cue — a signal
  23. rash — hasty
  24. fall — the season

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