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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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Word bank
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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: rash · bank · fan · clip · straw · cell · kick · hand

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. kick — in football
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. clip — a video
  7. bank — of a river
  8. clip — to cut
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. bank — for money
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. clip — for paper
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. cell — in biology

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