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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: vault · arm · track · tear · chair · pound

  1. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  16. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. track — a path
  5. vault — a safe
  6. track — to keep track
  7. tear — from crying
  8. pound — to hit hard
  9. chair — a leader
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. track — a song
  14. pound — a weight
  15. vault — an arched ceiling
  16. pound — for dogs
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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