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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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Word bank
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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 · object · degree · deal · pound · drill · rush · clip

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  4. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. drill — the tool
  3. deal — to handle
  4. object — a thing
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. degree — an amount
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. degree — from a university
  9. kick — in football
  10. degree — temperature
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. drill — army training
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. clip — to cut
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. object — to protest
  20. object — an aim
  21. pound — a weight
  22. drill — a practice
  23. rush — hurry
  24. pound — for dogs

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