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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 nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  3. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  4. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. calf — of the leg
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. calf — a young animal
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. land — to come down
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. cold — not warm
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. capital — a city
  13. land — a country
  14. bat — the animal
  15. land — ground
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. capital — money
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. cold — an illness
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. wax — to grow
  24. bat — in an idiom

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