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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 · mine · band · root · arm · kid · wax · rule

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. root — the cause
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. kid — child
  8. rule — government
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wax — to grow
  11. root — of a plant
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. kid — to tease
  14. root — of a word
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. mine — for digging
  19. rule — to rule out
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. band — a music group
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. rule — a law

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