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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: fork · drill · content · cold · ruler · cap

  1. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. content — videos and posts
  2. cold — not warm
  3. cold — an illness
  4. fork — in a road
  5. drill — a practice
  6. cap — of ice
  7. drill — army training
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. content — happy
  10. cap — a hat
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. content — the amount
  16. drill — the tool
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. cap — a lid

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