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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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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: fork · cold · file · pit · charge · press · band · drill

  1. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  2. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — the tool
  2. pit — in a race
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. charge — electricity
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. file — a line of people
  7. band — a music group
  8. drill — a practice
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. pit — a hole
  11. press — to push
  12. file — a document
  13. cold — an illness
  14. band — a ring
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. press — newspapers
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. fork — in a road
  19. cold — not warm
  20. charge — in control
  21. file — a tool
  22. press — a publisher
  23. drill — army training
  24. charge — a price

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