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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: drill · clip · pit · deal · kid · wound · season · fan

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. pit — in a race
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. drill — a practice
  8. kid — child
  9. deal — to handle
  10. kid — to tease
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — to cut
  14. wound — an injury
  15. season — in sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. season — of the year
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. drill — army training
  22. wound — an injury
  23. drill — the tool
  24. pit — a hole

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