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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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Word bank
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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: club · scale · patient · clip · face · wound · cold · wax

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — in music
  4. wound — an injury
  5. clip — for paper
  6. patient — calm and waiting
  7. club — a group
  8. face — to point toward
  9. face — part of the head
  10. face — to confront
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. club — for dancing
  14. club — for golf
  15. wax — to grow
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cold — an illness
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. cold — not warm
  24. wound — an injury

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