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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 120 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: vault · capital · pit · wax · bat · file · bark · arm

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. bark — to shout
  5. file — a line of people
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. file — a tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pit — in a race
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. wax — to grow
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. vault — a safe
  17. file — a document
  18. capital — a city
  19. pit — a hole
  20. bat — the animal
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. capital — money
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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