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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 · game · bear · swing · kid · present · lash · temple

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. David sat on the ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. temple — side of the head
  4. clip — to cut
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. bear — the animal
  8. clip — a video
  9. swing — to play on
  10. present — there
  11. present — a gift
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. present — the time now
  14. bear — the animal
  15. game — wild animals
  16. kid — to tease
  17. swing — in golf
  18. swing — music
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. game — a match
  24. clip — for paper

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