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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: content · branch · bear · patient · cold · rush · wax · pitcher

  1. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. branch — of a tree
  2. branch — a division
  3. wax — to grow
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. content — the amount
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. rush — hurry
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. bear — the animal
  16. content — happy
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — not warm
  22. cold — an illness
  23. bear — the animal
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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