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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 moon will ________________ and wane.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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. sharp — exactly
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. row — to paddle
  8. bear — the animal
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bear — the animal
  12. capital — a city
  13. capital — money
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. row — a line
  17. sharp — clever
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. wax — for sculpting
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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