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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: cap · kid · content · field · prune · vault · swing · wax

  1. David sat on the ________________.
  2. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  3. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  7. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. swing — in golf
  3. prune — the fruit
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. field — for sport
  7. cap — of ice
  8. vault — a safe
  9. content — the amount
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. cap — a hat
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. wax — in the ear
  14. wax — to grow
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. field — farmland
  17. kid — to tease
  18. content — happy
  19. field — a subject
  20. cap — a lid
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. swing — music
  23. prune — to trim
  24. kid — child

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