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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: press · last · club · vault · degree · bark · capital · wax

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Did you ________________ the button?
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  23. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. club — a group
  4. press — to push
  5. degree — temperature
  6. press — newspapers
  7. wax — to grow
  8. vault — a safe
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. degree — an amount
  11. capital — money
  12. vault — an arched ceiling
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. club — for dancing
  15. club — for golf
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. degree — from a university
  18. last — finally
  19. bark — to shout
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. capital — a city
  22. press — a publisher
  23. bark — a dog's sound
  24. last — final

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