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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. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. wax — to grow
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. capital — money
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. kid — to tease
  7. bass — the fish
  8. capital — a city
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. kid — child
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. snap — to click
  13. bass — low music
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. root — of a word
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. root — the cause
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. row — a line
  24. root — of a plant

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