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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  12. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  21. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. wound — an injury
  5. content — happy
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. field — a subject
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. wax — in the ear
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. content — the amount
  12. ruler — for measuring
  13. row — to paddle
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. field — for sport
  16. wax — for sculpting
  17. prune — to trim
  18. field — farmland
  19. prune — to trim
  20. wound — past of 'wind'
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. row — a line
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. wound — an injury

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