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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: kick · last · chair · roll · clip · swing · lash · cue

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We're on a ________________ here.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. cue — a hint
  3. clip — to cut
  4. last — to go on
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. swing — in golf
  7. swing — to play on
  8. chair — a professorship
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. roll — a cake
  12. clip — a video
  13. roll — on a roll
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. last — finally
  17. swing — music
  18. last — final
  19. roll — a list
  20. chair — a leader
  21. cue — a signal
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. kick — in football
  24. cue — for pool

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