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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. firm — a company
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. net — for catching
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. firm — decided
  9. key — the most important part
  10. firm — steady
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. race — the arms race
  13. wax — to grow
  14. game — a match
  15. race — humankind
  16. key — in music
  17. band — a music group
  18. game — wild animals
  19. band — a ring
  20. key — for a lock
  21. net — after costs
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. race — a contest
  24. net — in sport

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