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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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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: vault · press · nail · fine · capital · field · last · wake

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The ________________ went through the wall.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  19. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. fine — all right
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. last — final
  7. press — newspapers
  8. last — finally
  9. last — to go on
  10. press — to push
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. field — for sport
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. wake — a trail
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. capital — a city
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. press — a publisher
  19. vault — an arched ceiling
  20. field — farmland
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. fine — high quality
  23. capital — money
  24. vault — a safe

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