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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · drill · roll · march · rash · bore · fork · clip

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. drill — a practice
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rash — a series
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. roll — a cake
  7. drill — the tool
  8. bore — to drill
  9. bore — to tire
  10. roll — a list
  11. capital — a city
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. fork — in a road
  15. drill — army training
  16. clip — to cut
  17. rash — hasty
  18. clip — for paper
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. march — the month
  23. capital — money
  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