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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 120 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 · mug · wound · patient · cold · face · prune · game

  1. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a cup
  2. game — a match
  3. mug — to rob
  4. wound — an injury
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. prune — to trim
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wax — for sculpting
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. mug — a face
  17. face — to confront
  18. prune — to trim
  19. wax — to grow
  20. cold — not warm
  21. game — wild animals
  22. wound — an injury
  23. cold — an illness
  24. face — to point toward

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