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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: spring · racket · march · patient · wax · ground · last · nail

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. spring — of water
  5. march — the month
  6. last — finally
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wax — to grow
  9. spring — a coil
  10. last — to go on
  11. wax — for sculpting
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. spring — the season
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. ground — crushed
  19. ground — a position
  20. ground — the earth
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. march — the month
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. march — music

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