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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: patient · tear · rock · wax · chest · degree

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. chest — of your body
  4. degree — from a university
  5. tear — from crying
  6. degree — an amount
  7. wax — to grow
  8. rock — a stone
  9. chest — a box
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. tear — from crying
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. tear — to rip
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. rock — music
  18. degree — temperature

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