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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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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: rock · clip · kid · bat · current · pit · drill · object

  1. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — a fruit stone
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. current — electric
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — for paper
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. object — a thing
  9. rock — a stone
  10. current — happening now
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. clip — a video
  13. drill — the tool
  14. bat — the animal
  15. object — to protest
  16. drill — army training
  17. rock — music
  18. drill — a practice
  19. current — of water
  20. object — an aim
  21. pit — in a race
  22. pit — a hole
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. kid — child

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