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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. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — in the ear
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. field — a subject
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. row — to paddle
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. branch — a division
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. wax — for sculpting
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. row — a line
  24. wax — to grow

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