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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. wax — to grow
  3. field — for sport
  4. scale — size or range
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. tear — from crying
  7. scale — in music
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. field — a subject
  11. hand — help
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. root — the cause
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. roll — a list
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. hand — in cards
  19. root — of a word
  20. field — farmland
  21. tear — to rip
  22. roll — a cake
  23. tear — from crying
  24. root — of a plant

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