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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 116 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: pit · last · wound · deal · calf · clip · bound · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. last — final
  3. wound — an injury
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. clip — for paper
  6. last — finally
  7. clip — a video
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pit — in a race
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. kid — child
  13. last — to go on
  14. bound — obliged
  15. pit — a hole
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. deal — a big deal
  18. bound — certain
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bound — tied together
  24. deal — to handle

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