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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: clip · fork · wave · pitcher · chair · dip · march · drill

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. drill — the tool
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. drill — a practice
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. clip — to cut
  14. fork — in a road
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — the month
  17. dip — to sink
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. clip — for paper
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. march — music
  22. drill — army training
  23. chair — a leader
  24. march — the month

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