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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: spell · lean · pound · wax · row · cell · fork · patient

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. lean — to bend
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. wax — to grow
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. spell — magic
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. fork — in a road
  12. pound — to hit hard
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. spell — letters
  16. cell — a phone
  17. pound — a weight
  18. row — a line
  19. lean — thin
  20. spell — a short time
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. cell — in biology
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. row — to paddle

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