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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: kid · band · drill · wax · vault · file · present · jam

  1. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — to spread on bread
  2. band — a music group
  3. jam — a tight spot
  4. present — there
  5. drill — a practice
  6. kid — to tease
  7. kid — child
  8. file — a document
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. vault — a safe
  11. present — a gift
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. file — a line of people
  15. band — a ring
  16. present — the time now
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. file — a tool
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. drill — army training
  21. drill — the tool
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  24. wax — to grow

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