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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · rash · file · land · fork · patient · sharp · capital

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. It's one o'clock ________________.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. drill — army training
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. file — a tool
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. file — a line of people
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. capital — money
  12. rash — hasty
  13. sharp — exactly
  14. drill — a practice
  15. land — ground
  16. land — a country
  17. rash — a series
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. sharp — clever
  20. fork — in a road
  21. capital — a city
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. land — to come down
  24. file — a document

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