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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: tear · clip · wax · band · content · key · land · vault

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. This piece is in a major ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  11. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. 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. content — the amount
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. key — for a lock
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. key — in music
  6. content — happy
  7. band — a ring
  8. tear — from crying
  9. vault — a safe
  10. key — the most important part
  11. wax — in the ear
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — for paper
  14. vault — an arched ceiling
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — to cut
  18. land — ground
  19. tear — to rip
  20. wax — to grow
  21. land — a country
  22. tear — from crying
  23. band — a music group
  24. 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