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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: pop · vault · squash · clip · drill · field · capital · fork

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. We're almost out of ________________.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. capital — money
  3. drill — a practice
  4. pop — to visit
  5. drill — the tool
  6. field — for sport
  7. drill — army training
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. clip — to cut
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. squash — to crush
  13. vault — a safe
  14. field — farmland
  15. squash — the sport
  16. clip — a video
  17. capital — a city
  18. clip — for paper
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fork — in a road
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — soda
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. fork — a garden tool

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