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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. spell — letters
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. tear — from crying
  6. tear — from crying
  7. board — to get on
  8. vault — in gymnastics
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. tear — to rip
  12. last — to go on
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. fork — in a road
  15. wax — to grow
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. last — finally
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. spell — a short time
  20. spell — magic
  21. board — a committee
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. vault — a safe
  24. board — a flat piece

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