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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 116 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: ground · straw · cap · clip · tear · charge · coach · kick

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. tear — to rip
  5. cap — a lid
  6. clip — for paper
  7. charge — electricity
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. ground — the earth
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. cap — of ice
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. cap — a hat
  15. clip — to cut
  16. ground — crushed
  17. charge — a price
  18. charge — in control
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. tear — from crying
  21. kick — in football
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — a position
  24. coach — a trainer

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