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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: face · fine · bore · march · deal · wound · fan · clip

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. face — to confront
  3. fine — high quality
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. march — music
  6. wound — an injury
  7. clip — for paper
  8. face — to point toward
  9. wound — an injury
  10. deal — to handle
  11. bore — to tire
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. face — part of the head
  15. fine — all right
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. deal — an agreement
  18. march — the month
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. march — the month
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. clip — to cut
  24. clip — a video

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