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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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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: wax · patient · bark · straw · key · cold · nail · swing

  1. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bark — a dog's sound
  2. cold — an illness
  3. wax — to grow
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. wax — for sculpting
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. key — in music
  10. swing — music
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. swing — in golf
  19. key — the most important part
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bark — to shout
  23. key — for a lock
  24. swing — to play on

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