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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: drill · track · jam · vault · last · sharp · capital · wax

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. capital — money
  3. track — a song
  4. wax — to grow
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. last — finally
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. drill — a practice
  10. sharp — clever
  11. capital — a city
  12. vault — a safe
  13. track — a path
  14. last — to go on
  15. wax — in the ear
  16. last — final
  17. track — to keep track
  18. drill — the tool
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. drill — army training
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. sharp — with an edge
  24. capital — a big letter

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