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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 120 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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I've got to change the light ________________.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. wax — to grow
  4. rush — hurry
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bulb — for light
  7. row — to paddle
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. clip — a video
  10. row — a line
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. degree — an amount
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. bulb — for light
  21. degree — from a university
  22. degree — temperature
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. patient — a sick person

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