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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 116 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. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. cold — not warm
  3. march — music
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wax — in the ear
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. court — for sport
  10. march — the month
  11. ground — the earth
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. march — the month
  14. wax — to grow
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. cold — an illness
  17. court — of a king
  18. ground — a position
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. mine — for digging
  23. court — of law
  24. deal — to handle

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