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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. cold — not warm
  3. wax — to grow
  4. cell — a phone
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — finally
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. last — final
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. pitch — a sports field
  16. cell — in biology
  17. band — a music group
  18. rock — a stone
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. cold — an illness
  21. pitch — completely
  22. rock — to move gently
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rock — music

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