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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. vault — in gymnastics
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. vault — an arched ceiling
  5. content — the amount
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. ball — a dance
  8. staff — employees
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. staff — a stick
  11. tear — from crying
  12. clip — a video
  13. wax — to grow
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. clip — for paper
  16. content — happy
  17. tear — from crying
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. vault — a safe
  21. clip — to cut
  22. staff — employees
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. tear — to rip

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