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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. club — a group
  3. cold — not warm
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. band — a ring
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. club — for dancing
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. shower — to wash
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. club — for golf
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. kick — in football
  20. wax — to grow
  21. pitch — completely
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. band — a music group

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