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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 · swing · bore · lash · clip · tear · wind · shower

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  20. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. shower — rain
  3. wind — moving air
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. kick — in football
  6. tear — from crying
  7. swing — to play on
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. swing — music
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. swing — in golf
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. wind — moving air
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. bore — to drill
  19. tear — from crying
  20. tear — to rip
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. shower — to wash
  24. lash — an eyelash

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