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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: capital · cell · pitch · vault · dip · wax · spring · field

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  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. wax — for sculpting
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. vault — in gymnastics
  4. spring — the season
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. pitch — completely
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. cell — a phone
  10. field — for sport
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. spring — a coil
  13. spring — of water
  14. capital — a city
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. field — farmland
  17. dip — to sink
  18. wax — to grow
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cell — in biology
  22. field — a subject
  23. vault — a safe
  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