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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 museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. branch — of a bank
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. content — videos and posts
  7. content — the amount
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. branch — a division
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. perch — the fish
  17. content — happy
  18. mine — for digging
  19. squash — to crush
  20. squash — the sport
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. wax — to grow
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. perch — for a bird

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