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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: clip · wind · date · kick · drill · cold · cue · ground

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cold — not warm
  7. ground — crushed
  8. cold — an illness
  9. drill — a practice
  10. cue — a hint
  11. clip — to cut
  12. ground — a position
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — the fruit
  17. ground — the earth
  18. cue — for pool
  19. drill — army training
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. wind — moving air
  23. cue — a signal
  24. drill — the tool

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