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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 · pitcher · pound · roll · wake · fork · file · fine

  1. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. fine — high quality
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pound — a weight
  8. pound — for dogs
  9. roll — a list
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a line of people
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. drill — the tool
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. file — a document
  18. drill — army training
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. fork — in a road
  21. wake — a trail
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. roll — a cake
  24. drill — a practice

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