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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: key · vault · wax · branch · capital · pound · degree · swing

  1. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. degree — from a university
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. key — for a lock
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. swing — to play on
  6. degree — an amount
  7. pound — a weight
  8. capital — money
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. vault — a safe
  12. key — in music
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. key — the most important part
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. swing — in golf
  18. degree — temperature
  19. swing — music
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. branch — a division
  22. capital — a city
  23. wax — to grow
  24. pound — for dogs

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