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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. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. wax — to grow
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. hand — in cards
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. pitch — completely
  10. bound — obliged
  11. hand — help
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. field — for sport
  14. bound — tied together
  15. cell — a phone
  16. field — a subject
  17. field — farmland
  18. cell — in biology
  19. trunk — of an elephant
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bound — certain

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