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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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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: ball · wind · spell · dip · coach · kick · cap · clip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. spell — letters
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. wind — moving air
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. cap — of ice
  10. ball — a great time
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. wind — moving air
  13. kick — in football
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. ball — a dance
  16. cap — a lid
  17. cap — a hat
  18. spell — a short time
  19. spell — magic
  20. clip — a video
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. dip — to sink

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