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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: shower · face · kick · clip · snap · toast · kid · mate

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. shower — rain
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mate — to breed
  5. snap — to click
  6. shower — to wash
  7. kick — in football
  8. toast — bread
  9. face — to confront
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — for paper
  12. face — to point toward
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. clip — a video
  16. mate — a friend
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. mate — a partner
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. kid — to tease
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. face — part of the head
  23. kid — child
  24. kick — with a leg

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