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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 116 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: cap · fork · wound · drill · file · pitch · game · object

  1. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — to eat with
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. pitch — a sports field
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. drill — a practice
  6. pitch — completely
  7. wound — an injury
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. game — wild animals
  10. file — a tool
  11. cap — a hat
  12. object — to protest
  13. object — a thing
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. cap — a lid
  16. drill — the tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. cap — of ice
  19. game — a match
  20. object — an aim
  21. file — a document
  22. drill — army training
  23. file — a line of people
  24. fork — in a road

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