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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: temple · kick · can · snap · cold · prune · rule · clip

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. cold — an illness
  3. prune — to trim
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. clip — for paper
  6. cold — not warm
  7. clip — a video
  8. can — a tin
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. can — a tin
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. prune — to trim
  14. clip — to cut
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. rule — government
  17. rule — a law
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. can — to be able to
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. snap — to click

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