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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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. wind — moving air
  6. tube — a container
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. band — a ring
  9. wind — moving air
  10. capital — a city
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. capital — money
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wax — to grow
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. tube — the underground
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wax — for sculpting
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. wound — an injury
  24. band — a music group

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