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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Where did you ________________ them?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. pass — a permit
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. wax — in the ear
  5. drill — army training
  6. mug — a face
  7. row — a line
  8. mug — a cup
  9. mug — to rob
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. drill — a practice
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. wax — to grow
  18. drill — the tool
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. row — to paddle
  22. hand — in cards
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. hand — help

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