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

Word bank: pound · last · vault · clip · wax · tear · board · foot

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. tear — from crying
  3. clip — a video
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. foot — a measure
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. vault — a safe
  10. pound — a weight
  11. board — to get on
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. last — to go on
  14. last — finally
  15. wax — to grow
  16. vault — in gymnastics
  17. clip — for paper
  18. tear — to rip
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. board — a committee
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. clip — to cut
  23. tear — from crying
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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