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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  24. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. craft — a skill
  4. wax — to grow
  5. squash — the vegetable
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. cold — not warm
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. ruler — a monarch
  11. plane — a tool
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. craft — boats
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. squash — the sport
  18. cold — an illness
  19. squash — to crush
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. plane — in geometry
  24. ruler — for measuring

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