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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 · field · wax · branch · patient · face · squash · can

  1. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  2. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. field — a subject
  2. can — a tin
  3. can — a tin
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. face — to confront
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — an illness
  9. field — for sport
  10. face — to point toward
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. can — to be able to
  13. cold — not warm
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. squash — the vegetable
  16. face — part of the head
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — to crush
  19. wax — to grow
  20. branch — a division
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. branch — of a bank

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