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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. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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. fall — to drop
  4. dip — to sink
  5. content — happy
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. fall — to drop
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. content — the amount
  11. swing — to play on
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. mine — for digging
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. fall — the season
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. swing — music
  20. perch — the fish
  21. patient — calm and waiting
  22. swing — in golf
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. mine — an explosive

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