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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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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 · calf · deal · bat · drill · race · clip · field

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. clip — a video
  3. field — farmland
  4. race — a contest
  5. drill — a practice
  6. drill — army training
  7. clip — for paper
  8. race — the arms race
  9. field — for sport
  10. kick — in football
  11. deal — to handle
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. race — humankind
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. field — a subject

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