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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: drill · march · cap · cue · wake · chip · content · roll

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  13. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  24. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. cap — a lid
  3. cap — a hat
  4. drill — the tool
  5. roll — a list
  6. cue — for pool
  7. cue — a hint
  8. cue — a signal
  9. drill — a practice
  10. chip — to eat
  11. chip — for betting
  12. wake — a trail
  13. wake — to stop sleeping
  14. roll — a cake
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. cap — of ice
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. drill — army training
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. content — the amount
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. march — music
  24. wake — before a funeral

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