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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. That must've been a ________________.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. wax — in the ear
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. drill — a practice
  5. mug — a cup
  6. drill — army training
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. bat — the animal
  9. tube — the underground
  10. rush — a thrill
  11. rush — hurry
  12. wax — to grow
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. drill — the tool
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. tube — a container
  21. mug — a face
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. perch — the fish

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