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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. mine — for digging
  5. wax — for sculpting
  6. saw — the tool
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. clip — to cut
  9. present — the time now
  10. rush — hurry
  11. present — a gift
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. clip — a video
  14. present — there
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. scale — in music
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. wax — to grow
  21. clip — for paper
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. scale — size or range

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