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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: cold · nail · field · chest · patient · perch · calf · wax

  1. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  2. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — a sick person
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. perch — the fish
  5. wax — in the ear
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. nail — on a finger
  8. cold — not warm
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. field — a subject
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. field — for sport
  13. field — farmland
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. chest — of your body
  17. wax — to grow
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. chest — a box
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — an illness

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