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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. spell — letters
  9. wax — to grow
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. cap — a hat
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. rush — hurry
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. spell — magic
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. cap — a lid
  19. row — a line
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. spell — a short time
  22. row — to paddle
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. cap — of ice

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