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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 116 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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ took off on time.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. mate — to breed
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. cell — in biology
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. plane — an aircraft
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. kid — to tease
  10. plane — a tool
  11. mate — a friend
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. capital — money
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. capital — a city
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. mate — a partner
  20. branch — a division
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. wax — for sculpting

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